OFC News

OFC: It has been five years since the last Oceania qualifiers, so understandably the six teams lining up for the 2004 OFC Futsal World Cup Qualifying Tournament which kicks off in Canberra next week have every right to be itching to play.

The Oceania Football Confederation realised the long gap between tournaments given the developing status of futsal regionally. So in an effort to bring the teams up to speed, a Brazilian-born futsal expert Guillerme Costa, was sent to Fiji, Samoa and New Zealand to assist in the preparation of the respective national squads.

Coaching clinics were also held for local officials and players. The Solomon Islands, entering its first ever world cup qualifying tournament in futsal, were loaned the services of a futsal coach from Sydney.

Australia is again the hot favourite and with home advantage will be doubly tough to beat. But the overwhelming favouritism is not deterring five other countries from coming to Australia in an attempt to wrestle the title away and more importantly, the right to represent Oceania at the forthcoming FIFA Futsal World Champs in Chinese-Taipei in November.

The magnificent Arena Complex at the Australian Institute of Sport has been selected as the site for battle from 25-29 July 2004. The tournament format sees triple-header matches on each night with the winner to be decided on overall points according to the round robin league system in place.

Australia has assembled a formidable squad, albeit minus the brilliant Elliot Zwangobani who lit up the 1999 Oceania qualifying tournament in Port Vila. But the depth of Australian futsal with over 20,000 registered and active players at their disposal nationwide means they will lose little.

Traditionally Australia's toughest foes, New Zealand is not as strong in futsal and lacks the numbers and profile which Australia enjoys. Ten of the 12 player squad derive from the highly touted East Auckland club. Skippered by Nathan Robertson, the New Zealanders will arrive in Canberra with better preparation than the under strength team which struggled in Vanuatu. Many of the players were involved on a tour of Australia after the qualifiers were called off last October.

Fiji, runners up to Australia in 1999, has not been able to build on that momentum when they performed beyond expectation. The Fiji FA organised an inter-district futsal tournament to select its squad with all the players brought in from the 11-a-side game due to futsal's low profile.

Vanuatu have a organised league run annually in the capital Port Vila and also have what the other island countries lack, a quality indoor venue the Korman Stadium, which is perfect for futsal. Led by respected national coach Juan Carlos Buzzetti, a futsal enthusiast himself, Vanuatu is perhaps the team most likely to threaten Australia's dominance along with New Zealand.

Samoa has assembled a team of outdoor specialists but there is a sprinkling of international experience at their disposal with at least three players returned from the squad which went to Vanuatu in 1999; Junior Michael, Dennis Bryce and Peko Victor. Against a strong futsal selection from Australia which visited Apia in 2003, Samoa surprised many by beating them with a team of players thrown together from the national 11-a-side squad.

The Solomon Islanders are the new kids on the block but have taken a liking to futsal which has seen the rapid rise in the game's profile back in Honiara. This is largely due to the success of its junior national boys and girls team which have done remarkably well at the Australian National State Futsal Championships over the past two years. The known skill-level of the Solomons players is well suited to futsal. They have selected a team of fringe national 11-a-side players that have trained on outdoor basketball courts due to the lack of facilities.

CHECK OUT THE PUBLICATIONS PAGE TO READ THE OFFICIAL MEDIA GUIDE FOR THE 2004 OFC FUTSAL WORLD QUALIFYING TOURNAMENT

OFC: Esala Masi's fine goal scoring form continued in the Northern New South Wales Premier League this week, with the Fijian skipper netting the last of South Cardiff's goals in a 3-3 draw played out with bottom side Toronto Awaba at home on Sunday.

The goal was Masi's third in two matches for the Gunners, who lost significant ground on the top four after stumbling unexpectedly at the weekend.

After 13 rounds, South Cardiff sit ten points away from fourth placed Hamilton Olympic and will need to produce something special in their remaining five matches to have any hope of making an appearance at this years finals.

Firstly though, the Gunners take on eighth placed Lake Macquarie away from home this Sunday, knowing that only three points will do should they wish to accelerate their push for a finals berth.

Masi's compatriot Raj Kumar also had an eventful week, having moved from Queensland Metro 1 League team Darra Lions to Victorian State League 1 side Richmond SC.

Kumar was part of a highly successful team at Darra, which had seen the Lions break 12 points clear of second place with six rounds remaining.

However, Kumar's move south provides a tougher challenge for the Fijian, as after last Saturday's 4-0 win at home to Westvale SC, Richmond sit in third spot, nine points away from promotion, with eight rounds remaining.

Kumar, having only just arrived on the Richmond scene, had to be contented with a full game in reserve grade at the weekend, with the Fijians side romping home 10-1 over Westvale reserves.

Kumar has been included in Richmond's first grade squad for this Sunday's clash away to Western Suburbs.

Also in Victoria, Henry Fa'arodo of Fawkner Blues and Pasi Schwalger of Preston Lions enjoyed a weekend off as the Victorian Premier League endured a one-week hiatus.

It appears Samoan goalkeeper Schwalger is all but certain to return to the Lions after English League 2 outfit Southend United (where Schwalger was trialling) signed a duo of `keepers for their 2004/05 campaign.

The Shrimpers official website reports that former Swindon Town custodian Bart Griemink has gotten the nod as Southend's number one for the forthcoming season, meaning a berth for Schwalger at Roots Hall seems unlikely.

In Queensland, there was good news for Papua New Guinean attacker Alex Davani, who returned to first team action at the weekend following a three-week absence due to injury.

Furthermore, Davani's side Taringa Rovers recorded their fourth victory of the season when they defeated North Star 1-0 at home on Sunday.

Davani played a full game up front for Taringa in a win that has edged the Rovers out of the bottom three with six rounds remaining in the Queensland Premier League.

This Saturday, Taringa play fellow strugglers Toowoomba Raiders away from home in what is an ideal opportunity for the Rovers to mover further away from the relegation zone.

There was also good news for Vanuatuan pair Etienne Mermer and Richard Iwai, who both played full games in Mitchelton's 1-0 victory over local rivals Brisbane City.

The win moves Mitchelton five points clear of fifth place after 16 rounds and coming into next Saturday's home clash with Eastern Suburbs, the chances of Mermer and Iwai experiencing finals football in 2004 seem likely.

At Brisbane Wolves, there was disappointing news for Solomon Islands trio Jack Samani, Joel Konofilia and Paul Usumae, who all endured a crucial 2-1 loss to fellow top four challengers Palm Beach at home on Sunday.

The loss leaves the Brisbane club in seventh place, eight points away from fourth spot ahead of Saturday's daunting away trip to second placed Rochedale.

NOUMEA: New Caledonia league champion Magenta pulled off the double ending its 2003-04 season on a high with a narrow 2-1 victory over arch-rivals Mont Dore in the Coupe de Caledonie final last weekend.

Magenta now progresses to the 7th round of the French Cup in November either in France or in Noumea depending on the outcome of other matches.

Played at the Numa Daly Stadium, Magenta sought to erase the disappointment of losing its French Overseas Territories crown to Tahiti's Manu Ura the week before. And they made sure with the first goal of the match early in the second half after a tight scoreless draw. Stevens Longue capitalised on a defensive error inside the penalty area to give Magenta the lead.

Mont Dore hit back five minutes later through Jose Euriboa but victory was sealed with Magenta's international striker Andre Sinedo's opportunist goal with twenty minutes remaining.

OFC, Auckland: Oceania Football Confederation president, Reynald Temarii, was re-elected unopposed at last Saturday's OFC Extraordinary Congress, held at the Irikiri Island Resort in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

The former Tahitian soccer international turned sports administrator graciously acknowledged the solidarity shown by the congress members and thanked the FIFA president, Joseph S. Blatter for his presence and guiding words. Mr Temarii also formally welcomed New Caledonia as the

12th member of OFC.

Mr Blatter was pleased with the show of solidarity saying it was a good start towards a unified OFC.

Following the election of the president and eight sitting members, the following office bearers were confirmed for the period 2004-2008:

OFC Executive Committee: 2004-2008

President: Mr Reynald Temarii

FIFA Vice President-elect: Mr Ronald Harvey (Australia) -

2006-2010

Senior Vice President: Mr Johnny Tinsley Lulu (Vanuatu)

1st Vice President: Mr Mark Burgess (New Zealand)

2nd Vice President: Mr Adrian Wickham (Solomon

Islands)

3rd Vice President: Mr Richard Ott (American Samoa)

Treasurer: Mr Lee Harmon (Cook Islands)

Members: Mr Madiu Andrew (Papua New

Guinea)

Mr Eugene Haereraaroa

(Tahiti)

Mr Claude Fournier (New

Caledonia)

Observer: Mr 'Ahongalu Fusimalohi

(Tonga) - OFC rep to FIFA until 2006

The OFC will release details of its competition schedule for 2005-2007 this week.

SUVA: The Fiji Football Association has named their national under fifteen team to take part in the forthcoming Northern Ireland Milk Cup from 18-24 July in Belfast. The team was selected from a recent national competition and for the past weeks have been in camp at the Dr MS Sahu Khan Football Academy in Ba.

After a lengthy selection process, the final cut was made this week to the final travelling 18 players. Ba and Rewa dominate the selection with four players each from their districts.

The Fiji delegation will be led by Sheik M. Ibrahim and coached by Farouk Janeman. Norman Lambert, who was recently involved in the OFC Indigenous Senior Coaching Licenses courses in Auckland, has been named Assistant Coach. Fiji FA board member Rajendra Singh is the manager.

Fiji has been drawn to play two Irish teams in their opening matches of the Milk Cup next month. Placed in the junior (under fifteen) section of the prestigious youth tournament, Fiji will play County Armagh of Northern Ireland on 19th July then Shelbourne of the Republic of Ireland the following day. Depending on the results of those matches, Fiji will then play seeding games on 21, 22 and 23 July 2004 to find their final ranking.

Two other teams from the Oceania region are also taking part; the Parramatta Eagles (Australia) in the juniors and Otago (New Zealand) in the premier section.

It will be Fiji's first appearance at the Milk Cup, one of the world's top premier youth tournaments where players such as Everton's Wayne Rooney and Real Madrid's David Beckham have graced centre stage. Samoa represented the OFC last year with Otago from New Zealand also participating.

Fiji is also confirmed to take part in the Ian Rush Soccer Tournament from 25-30 July following the Milk Cup. The team will depart straight for wales after their final match in Belfast.

The team leaves for Northern Ireland on 16 July.

According to OFC Acting General Secretary, Tai Nicholas, he is pleased that the Oceania Football Confederation is again associated with assisting youth national teams from the region getting further exposure abroad by taking part in such a prestigious tournament.

"We are proud in continuing our links with the Milk Cup as it provides the opportunity for young footballers in our region to get a taste of football at a higher level," he remarked.

FIJI NATIONAL UNDER 15 TEAM
NAME                 DISTRICT       NUMBER       POSITION
Nishad Wasim ALI     REWA           1            Goalkeeper
Marika QALOCAVA      LAUTOKA       18            Goalkeeper
Deepak Rohitesh PRASAD BA           2            Sweeper
Kaushik Navneel KUMAR  REWA        12            R/Back
Esava Samudere NAQELECA SUVA        5     C/Back - Midfield
Kunal Kritesh CHAND    REWA         4     C/Back - R/Back
Muni Krishn CHANDIRAN  BA          13            C/Back
Krishneel DUTT         NADROGA      6            R/Back
Ravineel Shiva LINGAM  REWA         3            L/Back
Sekope Koroi TUILOMA   SUVA        14      L/Back - C/Back
Mitieli Namuka CAUCAU  LAUTOKA      8      C/Link - Striker
Sumeet Kartik KRISHAN  LABASA      15      C/Link - R/Link
Shoeb Nur ALI          LAUTOKA      9               L/Link
Isikeli WAQANILIVA     TAVUA       17      L/Link - L/Back
Samuela Tunabutu NAQIO SUVA         7               R/Link
Simione HARAVANUA      BA          10              Striker
Maciu Rakuita TUILAU   NASINU      11              Striker
Lavneel Ronil PRATAP   BA          16   Midfield - Striker

MANAGEMENT

Sheik M. IBRAHIM TOUR LEADER

Farouk JANEMAN COACH

Norman LAMBERT ASS/COACH

Rajendra SINGH MANAGER

FIFA.com: After some dramatic rises in June due to the stunning results from the OFC Nations Cup in Adelaide, there were only minor movements in the latest FIFA rankings for July 2004.

Only Solomon Islands and Fiji moved up, two places each to 128 and 131 respectively and inching closer to Tahiti on 122 and usurping the french territory as the top island nation in Oceania for the first time in years.

After breaking back into the top fifty in June, Oceania's top ranked nation Australia slumped three places to 52. New Zealand, Tahiti and Papua New Guinea each dropped a few places while Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga, New Caledonia, Cook Islands and American Samoa remained unchanged from the June rankings.

FIFA RANKING - JULY 2004 - OCEANIA
Rank  	Team  			Pts:	Rank: Jun 04 	Change since Jun 04 
52 	Australia 		556 	49 		-3 
83 	New Zealand  		510 	80 		-3
122 	Tahiti 			390 	117 		-5
128 	Solomon Islands  	367 	130 		 2 
131 	Fiji 			362 	133 		 2 
142 	Vanuatu  		315 	142 		 0 
164 	Papua New Guinea 	228 	160 		-4 
177 	Samoa  			178 	177 		 0 
182 	Tonga 			145 	182 		 0 
186 	New Caledonia  	        119 	186 		 0  
190 	Cook Islands 		101 	190 		 0 
203 	American Samoa  	 19 	203 		 0 

OFC: There was welcome relief for Fijian skipper Esala Masi this week, as his club South Cardiff Gunners rocketed back into form with a devastating 5-1 victory over high flyers Hamilton Olympic away from home on Sunday.

Having endured a six match winless run, the Gunners caused one of the biggest upsets of the Northern New South Wales Premier League season, which has given some credibility to their fledgling finals ambitions.

Masi was in top shape for his side, netting two of the five goals, his first for the club.

With six rounds remaining, South Cardiff sits just one spot away from a semi final berth, but, importantly, nine points shy of fourth place.

The Gunners take on bottom placed Toronto Awaba at home this Sunday.

In Victoria, Henry Fa'arodo was also amongst the goals.

The Solomon Islander netted his second goal for the Fawkner Blues since rejoining the club on the eve of the Oceania stage one qualifiers in May.

Fa'arodo's strike was the final goal in Fawkner's 3-0 rout of the Whittlesea Stallions away from home, which keeps the Blues in ninth spot ahead of this weeks clash away to fourth placed Frankston Pines.

Frankston will be high on confidence following their 2-0 win over Preston Lions in Preston on Sunday.

Samoan goalkeeper Pasi Schwalger was an absentee from the Lions line up, due to an ongoing trial with English club Southend United.

In Queensland, there was good news for all the QPL's pacific contingent.

Solomon Islands trio Jack Samani, Joel Konofilia and Paul Usumae were all a part of Brisbane Wolves 4-2 victory over the University of Queensland in the Premier Cup quarterfinals at home on Sunday.

Samani and Konofilia both played full matches with Usumae restricted to an appearance off the bench in the second half.

The Wolves will now meet North Star at Perry Park in the semi finals in August, but will first return to league action when they take on fellow top four challengers Palm Beach at home on Sunday.

Having been knocked out of the Premier Cup at the preliminary stage, Mitchelton, home to Vanuatuan pair Etienne Mermer and Richard Iwai, hosted the Toowoomba Raiders on Sunday in a deferred league fixture that was won by the hosts 1-0.

Mermer played the whole ninety minutes for his side, while Iwai had to be contented with a fleeting substitute appearance in the second half.

The win propels Mitchelton back into the QPL top four although they face a tough task to remain there, with a local derby against fifth placed Brisbane City on the horizon this Sunday.

Papua New Guinean Alex Davani's Taringa Rovers had a week off due to the Cup and will return to action this Sunday when they host North Star.

After a notable absence due to injury, there is hope Davani will make his return to the Rovers starting eleven this weekend.

In Queensland's Metro Cup, Fijian Raj Kumar was apart of another Darra Lions rout, this time a 7-0 thrashing of the University of Queensland at the competitions semi final stage.

Darra will now play Park Ridge in the final, which is to be played on August 1. - By Ben Coonan (Australian Correspondent)

OFC: The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) will be holding an extraordinary congress in Port Vila, Vanuatu this Saturday, 10 July. The congress will be hosted by the Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) in conjunction with its 70th anniversary celebrations.

In attendance will be FIFA President, Joseph S. Blatter who is making his fourth visit to the Oceania region since 2000. Mr Blatter's last visit was in Auckland, New Zealand in August 2002 for the OFC Extraordinary Congress. Mr Blatter is due to arrive in Port Vila with a FIFA delegation tomorrow, Friday 9 July, following a stopover in Sydney.

He will be the guest of honour later that evening at the official Congress dinner to be held at the Iririki Island Resort. There he will present the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit to VFF President, Johnny Tinsley Lulu for his long and dedicated service to football in Vanuatu and the Oceania region.

Today marked the arrival of the OFC delegates in Port Vila. A friendly soccer match was scheduled in the afternoon between OFC and VFF officials.

The Congress proper on Saturday will see the election of a new OFC president and eight new members to a reformatted executive committee in line with the adoption of the new OFC Statutes, which were approved at the OFC extraordinary congress in Paris, France last May and came into force on 1 June 2004. Other agenda items include the receipt and adoption of the Audited Accounts for the OFC Inc. for 2002 and the admission of New Caledonia as the 12th full member of OFC.

At the completion of the Congress, the FIFA President will make an official visit to the FIFA Goal Project site and preside over the foundation ceremony. Mr Blatter will also visit a specially designated SOS village before departing.

The new OFC Executive Committee will meet in the afternoon where the election of office-bearers will take place. Under the new Statutes, apart from the President and FIFA Vice President, there will also be a senior vice president, three vice presidents and a treasurer.

PAGO PAGO: The Kanana Fou grounds was a sea of colours last Saturday morning as a record crowd of more than a thousand, consisting of enthusiastic soccer players from six to 20 years old, their parents, relatives and guardians turned up to kick off the 2004 American Samoa Football Association (ASFA) Summer Soccer League.

Coordinated by the American Samoa Football Association (ASFA), the league will run until the July 24 and is divided into five age categories.

The 6-8 and 9-11 categories are open to mixed teams, while the 12-14 and 18-20 categories have male and female competitions. The 15-17 category on the other hand has only boys teams.

The categories with the most teams registered are the 9-11, 12-14 and the 18-20 categories and are divided into two pools.

According to the tournament director Naomi Lokeni-Oney, 50 teams have registered for this year's summer league, which is the largest number that have registered in this annual sports fixture sponsored and coordinated by ASFA.

"Last year, there were only 42 teams," said the tournament director. "But the increase in that number confirms the popularity of soccer in the territory which is very heart-warming, because it is these young players we are targeting to develop, nurture and coach for the future."

"The opening ceremony was scheduled for 8:30am on Saturday but by 8am, a lot of these young players were already running around in their uniforms warming up for the starting whistle! I want to thank the parents and who turned up in numbers to support and cheer their kids."

Lokeni-Oney continued saying that this is the first summer league that the new ASFA administration is coordinating since they have been in office, and that they are currently compiling data of each individual player.

"It's a painstaking but necessary job because we must have records of our players for future reference," she explained.

The league was officially opened with a short prayer delivered by Rev. Ioane Evagelia of the Utulei CCCAS, after which ASFA president Richard Ott addressed the players and their parents. He stressed the importance of developing the young generation of soccer players who will be entrusted with the task of putting American Samoa on the same level as the current established soccer nations in the Pacific region.

He also emphasized the fact that the young players must first and foremost have fun playing the game.

And indeed, not only did the young players have fun but the parents and the local soccer enthusiasts who turned up to witness the league's opening day had fun cheering on their children.

At the end of the day, many were hoarse from shouting instructions and encouragement, but mostly from laughing at the youngsters' antics on the field.

"I'm glad I came today," said one father. "It's great to see these young kids enjoying themselves on the field playing the game they love. My kids have been pestering me all week to buy them soccer boots and it was worth it just to see them having so much fun. And I would rather have them spend their summer holidays playing soccer than leaving them open to mischief."

According to the Naomi, the league continues today at 10am and the two oldest categories (15-17 and 18-20) will have their games at Pago Pago Park, while the younger categories will be playing at the Faga'alu Park. - By Andrew Fa'asau (Samoa News)

SUVA: Fijian international Thomas Vulivuli's two goals helped his Suva team to a 3-1 upset over the unbeaten Lautoka Blues in wet conditions at the National Stadium in Suva over the weekend.

In the feature round match of the Coca Cola/Nokia national league, Taniela Waqa had given the Blues an early 1-0 lead. But the home side hit back through striker Pita Rabo. Both sides went into the break deadlocked at one goal apiece.

But in the second half, Suva began to make inroads on the flanks and Vulivuli was on hand to glance in a sensational cross by Ronald Lawrence which Lautoka goalkeeper Nicholas Lawrence misjudged in the deteriorating conditions.

Vulivuli struck again soon after with an individual run through the Lautoka backline.

In other results from the weekend, Nadroga beat

Labasa 2-0 at Lawaqa Park in Sigatoka while Nasinu held Nadi to a nil-all draw in at Laucala. The big surprise of the round was Navua holding league leaders ba to a one all draw at home in Thompson Park.