Colourful opening to American Samoa summer league

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…

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…

OFC, Auckland 5 July 2004: The Oceania Football Confederation has appointed an all-island trio of match officials for the upcoming 2004 FIFA Olympic men’s football tournament in Athens, Greece next month. Tahitian Referee Charles Ariiotima, who replaces the injured Derek Rugg of New Zealand, will be accompanied by Assistant Referees’, Michael Mouauri of the Cook…

PAPEETE: Tahiti has regained hold of the much sought after French Overseas Territories Cup, or Dom-Tom Cup as it is more popularly known. The Dom-Tom Cup is played annually between the champion club team of New Caledonia and Tahiti. The winner earns a trip to the finals in Paris. After relinquishing the Cup last season…

ASA: The best young female footballing talent from around the country converges on Valentine Sports Park in Sydney’s west this weekend for the 2004 version of the Qantas National Talent Identification Championships – Women’s U15 and U17. The action kicks off Saturday 3 July, with the champions to be decided the following Saturday 10 July….

FIFA: As of Thursday, 1 July 2004, matches may be played on natural or artificial surfaces if permitted by the applicable competition regulations. This amendment to the Laws of the Game was approved by the International F.A. Board (IFAB), the custodians of football’s laws, at its 118th Annual General Meeting, held in London on 28…

ASA: The Australian women’s national team, the Qantas Matildas, started their final Olympic Games preparations by opening their two-match series against China with a 2-0 win at the Chinese Football Association National Training Centre near Beijing. With the scores deadlocked at nil-all at half time, Sarah Walsh (pictured right) netted twice in the second half…

OFC: There was fantastic news for Samoan goalkeeper Pasi Schwalger in Victoria this week, with the Preston Lions custodian jetting out to England for trials with Third Division outfit Southend United. Schwalger left for Roots Hill on Tuesday and will only return to the Lions should his two-week stint in the UK be an unsuccessful…

OFC, Auckland: The 2004 OFC Indigenous Senior License Coaching course was completed last Friday in Auckland, New Zealand with final assessments revealing improved results across the board from the Level One course held last December. Coaching instructor, Alan Gillett, was pleased with the two week effort by the eighteen course participants who came from eight…

HONIARA: Honiara has won the National Under 20 tournament after defeating former champions Makira 2-0 in the grand final witnessed by about 5,000 spectators at Lawson Tama Stadium last weekend. The win ended the capital city’s long losing streak at youth level. Team coach and former national soccer player, Timothy Inifiri was the happiest man…