VAKATALESAU SEALS YOUNGHEART MOVE

When the All Whites board the plane following their upcoming 2008 OFC Nations Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ clash with Fiji they will have a pair of giant reminders of the torrid battle joining them on the flight home. 

Brothers Osea Vakatalesau and Peni Finau will depart Fijian powerhouse district Ba to link up with Youngheart Manawatu in the New Zealand Football Championship. 

“It will very difficult to leave Ba, the people mean a lot to me, but I’m looking forward to a new challenge in New Zealand” softly spoken goal-machine Vakatalesau notes. 

The physical traits obviously run in the family when you cast an eye over older brother and national team captain, Peni Finau. Vakatalesau has been on the radar for several years now, but in recent seasons his exploits have not gone unnoticed.   

“You can see the improvement in his all-around game from the U-20 (in 2005) until now” notes his national team coach Juan Carlos Buzzetti. “His pace, strength and workrate are all traits that stand out for me, left foot, right foot it doesn’t matter, and he is so agile” 

The skills of Vakatalesau have also not gone unnoticed on Youngheart Manawatu coach Shane Rufer who first laid eyes on the Ba product at the 2005 OFC U-20 Championship in the Solomon Islands. 

“He [Rufer] has been trying to sign me since the U-20 in the Solomons,” said Vakatalesau humbly, before adding that his performances in the 2007 O-League for Ba renewed interest in him and predictably Vakatalesau is looking forward to the move. 

“I think the NZFC will be a new challenge for me, the league will be tougher than in Fiji and I am moving to help my future in the game” 

“I’m looking forward to the small things like having good resources for training and more opportunities, my goal is to help Youngheart Manawatu qualify for the O-League and maybe make a living out of football”.   

No doubt his performances around the region in the 2007 O-League led him to being a marked man at the XIII South Pacific Games in Samoa. 

“I often had two or three defenders on me every time I got the ball”, but despite the added attention Vakatalesau managed to get on the scoresheet 10 times in Apia, second only to Vanuatu’s Seule Soromon, himself an export of sorts turning out for Suva in Fiji’s New World National League. 

“I think it is good that we get more players from the islands playing in different leagues at a higher level,” Vakatalesau will be looking forward to linking up with livewire Solomon Islands import Alec Maemae. 

“Having Peni (pictured above)there will be good too” he adds, before retelling the story of how the brothers were signed for the Palmerston North-based club. 

“Shane spoke with me after the final with Waitakere and said that he was looking for a defender and asked me who the number 12 was, I replied that’s my brother Peni!” 

Freely admitting to a lack of knowledge about the rest of his potential team mates in the central North Island, the overseas experience against tougher defences will bode well for the man expected to lead the attacking line of an Olympic side brimming with talent that includes senior internationals, Maciu Dunadamu and Roy Krishna. 

Add to that the creativity of Malakai Tiwa and the defensive strengths of Apisalome Turuva and talented ‘keeper Benamino Mateinaqara, Fiji’s hopes of qualifying for its first FIFA event look good.