John Alick’s football career reached new heights when he stepped on to the field in his OFC Champions League debut on Saturday, but the Malampa Revivors’ captain gives full credit for his development as a player and leader to the support and pure drive of his young but devoted football club.
The towering 25-year-old joined the Luganville-based club when it was established in 2010 and has never looked back, wearing the blue shirt when the side became the most successful Ni-Vanuatu football club outside Port Vila, qualifying for the 2017 edition of Oceania’s premier club competition.
“The past seven years there has been good,” he said.
“The coaching has been good and get on well with them and I’ve really enjoyed being in the captain’s role.
“I think all of us play really well together. We’ve worked really hard as a team and that’s how we’ve managed to be in the OFC Champions League.”
Although the debutants were welcomed into the competition with an arduous fixture against Papua New Guinea’s Lae City Dwellers, Alick is enjoying the challenge of facing the region’s top teams and feels honoured to play against international talent.
“The level is high so it’s good for us,” he said.
“Lae City Dwellers played very well and they were tough. Even though they won the game, it was a good experience.”
Alick now has full focus on tomorrow’s match against Solomon Islands’ Western United, and is feeling confident about earning their first points of the competition.
“I’m feeling good ahead of Wednesday and I’m ready to take on Western.”
Malampa Revivors will take on Western United at 1pm before Lae City Dwellers face New Zealand’s Auckland City FC at 4pm on the second day of action in Group C of the 2017 OFC Champions League at Mangere Centre Park in Auckland on 15 March.