This week, we have news from the Oceania Football Confederation as teams are preparing for the OFC Women's Nations Cup 2022 this summer, with the venue and schedule now announced. This tournament doubles as the 2023 Women's World Cup Qualifiers, with the winner advancing to the Intercontinental Play-off Tournament. We also talk to Papua New Guinea women's national team head coach Nicola Demaine, who led her side to an international tournament title in Singapore against Asian and African national team competition. We also look at news from Asia, specifically at the league level in Singapore and some international friendlies for 2023 WWC debutants Philippines against Oceania sides, as well as their results from the Southeast Asian Games, which also involved Thailand—which still has a chance to make the 2023 tournament through the intercontinental playoffs—and host Vietnam, who will also debut at the 2023 WWC Finals.
OFC Women's Nations Cup 2022—Schedule and Host Set
The winner of this summer's OFC Women's Nations Cup 2022 will advance to the 10-team FIFA Intercontinental play-off tournament, which will determine the final three qualification spots for next year's World Cup. Fiji will be the host for a historic tournament from July 13-30 as regional powerhouse New Zealand will not participate, as they are automatically in the 2023 WWC Finals as a co-host. Thus, the Women's Nations Cup winners will be a team that has never won the tournament before. New Zealand have been six-time winners, including the last four events from 2007 through 2018. (The only other two previous winners, Chinese Taipei and Australia are no longer OFC members.) Without New Zealand, who will focus on playing more challenging opponents this summer ahead of next year, the tournament should draw increased interest throughout the island nations and abroad. TribalFootball.com will follow this tournament closely, as we have in the past.
The OFC tournament format will see three groups, each made up of three nations, play each other once, before the top two sides from each group, as well as the two best third-placed teams from the group stage, advance through to the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be single-leg matches, with the two losing semi-finalists also contesting a playoff for third place.
American Samoa (142nd of 178 women's national teams in the latest FIFA ratings as of March 25, 2022 and 11th overall—including New Zealand—and bottom in Oceania) is unable to take part this summer due to ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Group A, Tonga (92nd in the FIFA rankings and the third highest rated team in the tournament) have been drawn with Cook Islands (104th and fifth, respectively) and Samoa (111th and seventh). Tonga and the Cook Islands met in the last tournament in 2018 at the group stage and Tonga won 1-0. Cook Islands is hoping to beat their best-ever tournament finish of third in 2010 and 2014. Samoa, who are coached by Wellington Phoenix legend and former Barbadian international forward Paul Ifill, complete an all-Polynesian group.
Group B will see Papua New Guinea face Tahiti and Vanuatu. Papua New Guinea enter the tournament as the highest-ranked nation in the field (49th overall). Tahiti (105th overall and sixth among the nine participants) and participating in their third Women's Nations Cup appearance, will be hoping to avenge their 3-1 loss to PNG at the 2018 tournament during the group stage. Vanuatu (121st overall and ninth among the Oceania teams competing), are competing in their first Women's Nation Cup since 2010 and are due to continue their preparation with a training camp in Australia (see below).
Host nation Fiji (67th overall and second in the tournament to PNG) have been drawn into Group C where they will face New Caledonia (99th and fourth) and Solomon Islands (119th and eighth in the field). Fiji, who finished as surprise runners-up at the 2018 edition, will hope to leverage home advantage to jump up a spot in the Final table this summer. Fiji hired veteran American and former 2016 Papua New Guinea U-20 WWC Finals coach Lisa Cole and she has brought back American-born scoring star Trina Davis from the 2018 squad, after she had a stint playing professionally in Israel. New Caledonia will be aiming to better their impressive performance as hosts in 2018, where they made the final-four, while Solomon Islands have appointed national men's team legend Batram Suri (who had 48 caps for the Solomon Islands national team and played for years in New Zealand as well as in Fiji, Tahiti and Vanuatu and at home); the team is making their third appearance at a Women's Nations Cup.
Around the OFC, teams are already preparing for this summer's OFC Nation's Cup, which we will discuss below.
Tonga travels to Australia for a High-Performance Preparation Camp
Tonga travelled to Sydney Australia in April, receiving a grant from the Australian High Commission for a three-week training camp and two international friendlies against the Philippines [who qualified for the 2023 WWC Finals from Asia earlier this year] as well as games against local academy sides.
Tonga lost the first game to the Philippines 16-0 on April 22 in Sydney. For the Philippines, Carliegh Frilles (Coastal Carolina College in the U.S.) scored five goals and Camille Rodriguez and Hali Long (who both play at home with Kaya-Iloil, with Long being American-born and formerly played at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock) each had a hat trick. Tonga also lost the second game but by a much closer score line of 5-0 on April 29 in Glenwood in New South Wales. The Filipinas as they have now been labeled by their federation for branding purposes (see below) were led by Anicka Castaneda (De La Salle University in the Philippines) and Eva Madarang (American-born who played at Rogers State University in Oklahoma and is now with Pozoalbense of Spain, after time with Doncaster Rovers Belles in England and Roma in Italy) each scoring a brace, while Frilles scored again with a 13th minute goal.
Tonga had not trained together at home since January 15 due to the impact of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcanic eruption and subsequent tsunami, followed by COVID-19 related lockdowns.
Tonga's women's national football team [in traditional dress] went to Australia for a high-performance training camp. Photo credit: Tonga FA.
In Australia, HRH (Her Royal Highness) Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tuku'aho of Tonga, who is also the Royal Patron of the Tonga Football Association, visited the team at their Valentine Sports Park base in Sydney during their camp. The Princess met with each of the players and commended them on their dedication to representing their country.
Fiji also went to Australia for an April Training Camp
American-born head coach Lisa Cole also took her new squad to Australia for training and they too played two matches against the Philippines, on April 7 and 11 in Sydney. The Bula Girls lost 7-2 in the first match in Sydney, but after a 6-0 opening period deficit, outscored the Philippines in the second half 2-1, with fine goals by Cema Nasau (22—Ba in Fiji) and Adi Volitikoro (20—Labasa in Fiji and who studies at Waiqele College). For the Philippines, captain Tahnai Annis (ex-University of Florida and Thor-KA in Iceland, with whom she won a league title in 2012), Quinley Quezada (American-born and now with JEF United Chiba in Japan's WE-League) and Anicka Castaneda (De La Salle University in the Philippines) all scored two goals. The game attracted about 100 fans—mostly supporting the Asian side—at Western Sydney Wanderers Park, which had quite rainy conditions, particularly in the second half. For Fiji, Trina Davis was substituted early for an injury just minutes into the game.
The second game of the series ended 8-0 for the Philippines on April 11. Sofia Harrison (another Philippines diaspora from Maryland who played at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania and won a UWS League II Mid-Atlantic South Conference Championship last summer with Coppermine United of Baltimore, Maryland) scored the first goal in the 10th minute for her first international goal for the Filipinas. Katrina Guillou (born in Washington D.C., played at UNC Wilmington and then in Finland and Sweden and is now with Damallsvenskan side Pitea of Sweden) scored a hat trick. With northern Swedish side Pitea, who currently are in 6th place in the 12-team league on 13 points from 9 games—six behind surprise leaders Eskilstuna United on 19 after 9 games—Guillou has three goals in nine games. Guillou also scored 13 times in 26 games in 2020 with second division side Moron. Seventeen-year-old defender Isabella Flanigan (in high school in Florida) ended the scoring with her own debut goal as an international.
Katrina Guillou (in white jersey) scored a hat-trick to lead the Filipinas' 8-0 romp of Fiji in an international friendly in Australia on April 11. Photo Courtesy Philippines Football Federation
Fiji also played a number of local clubs in warm-up games, including a 3-2 loss against the Westfield High School at the Victoria grounds in Sydney before the Philippines matches. Head coach Lisa Cole said about her side's first match in the country, "It was disappointing but good, we need to learn these lessons now, with some good individual performances and some very poor performances on the day as well. We didn't play well but had some good moments. [It is] Something to build on. We should have been good enough to win but didn't have the quality on the day. It is very clear now to the players that good habits matter. Opening up early, taking a positive first touch, playing quickly, etc. All things they get away with in Fiji but won't get away with at the next level."
In the Digicel Women's Super League in Fiji, as of the first week in April of 2022, reigning champions Ba leads after three rounds with nine points, despite several players on the national team trip to Australia, by defeating Nadroga 4-1 at Fiji FA Academy Ground in Ba. Labasa is in second with seven points after they were held 1-1 by Suva at Ratu Cakobau Park. Rewa registered its first win with an emphatic 12-1 win over Tailevu Naitasiri and moved up to a fourth-place place with three points. Nadroga is fifth with one point while Tailevu Naitasiri is on the bottom of the table. With Fiji hosting the OFC Nations Cup this summer, hopefully the local league will get a follow-on boost, which will further help to develop the country's national teams' program in the coming years.
Papua New Guinea Wins an International Tournament in Singapore; adds a Conference to its national league
At the national team level, Papua New Guinea head coach Nicola Demaine took a side to the Tri-Nations Series in Singapore in April and came home with the championship trophy. PNG defeated the Seychelles 9-0 on April 8 as Marie Kaipu (24—POM FC in PNG) and Ramona Padio (Kimbe in PNG) scored braces and then defeated the host side Singapore two days later, with Sonia Embahe (Hekari United in PNG) scoring the only goal of the game for a 1-0 win. All the games were played at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Kallang. England native Nicola Demaine took over the PNG Women's National Team in December of 2021. She has coached in the region for years, primarily working in New Zealand, where she was the Oceania Football Confederation's Women's Football Development Officer from February 2012 through March 2017. In 2019 she coached Samoa's national women's team in the 2019 Pacific Games. She coached the PNG
Under-15 national women's team for the Youth Olympics in 2014. In 2019 she worked in Australia for Football Queensland as their U-14 head coach and club development ambassador.
Papua New Guinea defeated Seychelles and Singapore to win the Tri-Nations Series 2022 title in Singapore. Photo credit: PNGFA Facebook.
Demaine corresponded with TribalFooball.com about PNG's recent tournament victory, "The Series in Singapore was a great opportunity to see how the team work together and how much they understand of the tactics we have been working on. We never really looked at it as a tournament we were trying to win, more of a learning opportunity to help us develop habits that will help us in our goal to win the next tournament. The experience in Singapore overall was excellent for team bonding, building confidence and giving first caps to players in a non-pressure environment."
Demaine felt that the Singapore trip will help her side in the OFC Nations Cup this summer. "Winning both games in Singapore is a good reminder of what the team can achieve. History will place massive expectations on the PNG team but we are taking one step at a time and trying not to get ahead of ourselves. We have identified some key areas to work on and will continue to improve in areas that will boost our chances of success at the OFC Nations Cup. We are very mindful that a number of Oceania teams are working in a way that we have never seen [before]. International friendlies have been uncommon in the past and now we have seen Tahiti, Fiji and Tonga all take part in games outside of the confederation. All teams will be looking at us as the team they need to beat to have a chance at World Cup qualification. We are making sure our feet are firmly on the ground and taking care of every facet of performance that we can…. If we want to have success, we need to do more and be more than we have before.
As of May 22, the side was currently in camp in Port Moresby playing a series of games against local U18 men's teams. They hoped to schedule at least three international games before taking on Vanuatu on July 14th. This important international title win against Asian and African sides sends a clear message that Papua New Guinea, despite falling to Fiji in the semifinals four years ago (5-1), should certainly be considered one of the favorites this summer for the OFC Nations Cup title and the region's only spot in the international playoffs for a 2023 Women's World Cup Final berth. PNG finished runners-up in the Oceania Women's Nations Cup in 2007, 2010 and 2014 to New Zealand. Demaine made an excellent point that the preparation [and prioritization] by other teams in the tournament has increased massively compared to past events. With New Zealand out, the Oceania nations have a realistic path to a Women's World Cup berth—albeit via the Intercontinental Playoffs. This activity is particularly valuable to the countries who have had to idle their programs and leagues during COVID. This summer's OFC Nations Cup promises to be the most competitive ever and a must-watch event. Hopefully, this tournament and the finalist has a good FIFA playoff finals tournament and FIFA grants the Oceania Federation more than one full WWC spot in the future [assuming New Zealand stays in the OFC]—for two full spots, and even another chance through an international playoff spot.
At the local league level, Papua New Guinea has added a Highlands Conference to its Women's National Conference Soccer League in 2022. The Highlands Conference is the fourth conference in the league along with the Southern Conference, Northern Conference and NGI Conference. The Highlands Conference will be contested between six teams: Mommers FC, Goroka FC, Simbu Ambai FC, SHP FC, Hagen FC and Kuri FC. The Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) has helped facilitate the new league in the Highlands region, providing balls, training cones and ball pumps to all six teams, as they have with those in the other conferences.
Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu train at home
Solomon Islands have been in a training camp at home this spring, which has included sessions at Lawson Tama Stadium and the Solomon Islands National Institute of Sport in Honiara. Tahiti also gathered for training locally whilst Vanuatu's players were handed individual training programs at home by Vanuatu national team head coach Yalou Robert to work on during a COVID lockdown, in order to keep them in shape for the upcoming regional championship.
Samoa and New Caledonia look abroad for diaspora to boost their sides for Nations Cup
Samoa have operated a talent identification program running in Auckland, New Zealand this year in order to find New Zealand-based players from their diaspora who have an interest in representing Samoa on the international stage, with a particular focus on this summer's OFC Nations Cup. Paul Ifill, a long-time Wellington Phoenix forward and former Barbadian international, is the head coach of the side and utilizing his contacts in New Zealand to find new talent for Samoa. They held a talent identification fixture in April with a practice match against the Saint Kentigern College Girls 1st XI team, after a first camp in February in Auckland, where players could come to show their interest in representing Samoa at national level.
Samoa players in a huddle at their national talent identification games, with their national team head coach Paul Ifill on the far right. Photo Credit: FFS [Football Federation Samoa] Media.
Football Federation Samoa Technical Director Jess Ibrom explained that, despite challenges presented by COVID-19 restrictions at home, it was good to proceed with national team activities, "This game provided a good benchmark for national staff to see the status of players based here in New Zealand. It also supports our preparations towards competitions such as the OFC Women's Nations Cup in July."
The coaching staff of New Caledonia's women's team are utilizing their French territorial status and observing players with roots in the islands from France in a bid to integrate French-based players into the squad ahead of the upcoming Nations Cup as well. One of those players in line to make the final squad is Aurelie Lalie, who currently plays her football for CJF Football Fleury-les-Aubrais in France's Régional 1 Féminin division. She was one of four potential New Caledonia players that new women's national team head coach Michel Berbeche, alongside assistant Cédric Weijeme, travelled to Europe to watch in action over a four-day training course. Berbeche and Weijeme observed the players in several training sessions while based at the Centre de Regain in Sainte-Tulle. They also participated in practice matches arranged with another Régional 1 side, Marignane Gignac FC, and an U-15 selection.
Lalie recently spoke to the Fédération Calédonienne de Footwebsite about the mini-camp. "For a first [attempt] in metropolitan France it was encouraging, although it was short and we were only four girls. It was not easy to train with four. But it still allowed us to work well together and we appreciated the work proposed by the new coach and his assistant."
Lalie played for New Caledonia at the OFC Women's Nations Cup 2018, which they hosted and finished fourth in—their best finish since hosting the first ever tournament in 1983 when they finished third of four teams in the finals. She felt that the training will help the team at this summer's finals, "In terms of the training program and the structuring of the selection set up, it was adapted to our needs, I think. This allowed me to better understand the guidelines given to lead the girls from the pre-selection towards a more significant evolution of performance and the requirements of the highest level."
News from Asia
Singapore lands Deloitte as a title sponsor for their Women's League
In addition to hosting an international tournament in April (see Papua New Guinea section above), professional services firm Deloitte was unveiled as the new title sponsor of the nation's top women's league, the first time the league has had a title sponsor since 2000. The league was scheduled to start on May 28 after being shut down for two years because of COVID. Deloitte will sponsor the league for three years with an option for two additional years and the league will be called the Deloitte Women's Premier League; the sponsorship will pump $300,000 Singapore dollars [US$215,550] into the women's game. Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong said that the WPL represents how sports can propel progress and encourage active participation by women in sport. "Women are challenging the stereotypes that hold us back. We want to also promote women's empowerment, leadership, and help in other areas to develop a sense of identity and achievement by pursuing new opportunities. I think we are on the cusp of something tremendous for women's football."
There will be seven clubs in the WPL's 21st season: Albirex Niigata (Singapore), Balestier Khalsa, Hougang United, Lion City Sailors, Tanjong Pagar United, Tiong Bahru and Still Aerion. For Albirex, Balestier and Hougang, this will mark the first time the three Singapore Premier League clubs have incorporated a women's senior team within their setup. With help from the FIFA COVID-19 Relief Plan and the Unleash the Roar! project, all seven clubs will each receive a subsidy and a dedicated training facility respectively.
Each of the WPL teams can register up to 25 players, with a maximum of four foreign players and a minimum age of 16 years old. The clubs will also undergo a licensing programme to provide stability and structure to the staff and players.
Besides sponsoring the WPL, Deloitte also employs several women's national football players through the Deloitte Ignite athlete career opportunity program, which has seen over 130 athletes work or have worked in Deloitte since 2014. It is in discussions with FAS [Football Association of Singapore] to extend the program for both men and women football players to open the doors to more work opportunities during and after their football careers.
Women's football in Singapore has seen several significant developments this year. The national team has been selected to feature at the upcoming SEA Games in Hanoi—the first time they have earned the nod for the biennial Games since 2003—and will also make their Asian Games debut in September. In April, the team played in front of a paying public for the first time during the FAS Tri-Nations Series matches against Papua New Guinea and Seychelles at Jalan Besar Stadium. They are ranked 135th and 26th in Asia among 32 ranked nations in the latest FIFA rankings of March 25, 2022. We applaud these recent efforts by the FAS and it will be interesting to look at the team rosters and see how many imports play in the league; we will continue to look at the progress made for women's football in the country.
Philippines Trains in Australia and plays in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam
The Philippines women's national team, led by Australian native Alen Stajcic, trained in Australia (Sydney area) in April , winning four games against Oceania Football Confederation sides Fiji and Tonga (see above). Though it was a good familiarity tour ahead of next summer's Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand that they qualified for in January, they had a more immediate goal in mind with the Southeast Asian Games coming up in May (9-21) in Vietnam. Their federation also announced that the team will be known from now on by the name "Filipinas." Team Manager Jefferson Cheng explained, "It ("Filipinas") is simple and nationalistic. Our athletes are Filipinas. They are strong-willed, determined, passionate and driven by the goal to represent not just themselves, but the country." The Philippines is now ranked number 54 by FIFA (11th among AFC members), their highest ever rating.
Joining the Filipinas in competition for the first time for the Southeast Asian Games (they also were on the month long Australia trip) were Kaya Hawkinson (22—Cal-State Fullerton), Chantelle Maniti (17—from Australia and qualified to play for Australia, El-Salvador and the Philippines; her brother plays for the Philippines U-23 national team; she attended the Football New South Wales Institute at home) and Jaclyn Sawicki (29—she is from British Colombia, Canada and played at the University of Victoria and in Japan and Sweden. She was capped at the U-20 level by Canada and won one full international cap for Canada in 2011 as a late substitute in a September match against the United States).
2021 Southeast Asian Games Summary
In the first game of the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi (postponed from last year because of COVID), the Filipinas defeated Cambodia 5-0. Isabella Flanigan (still in high school in Florida) opened the scoring in the 27th minute, and then the team added four goals in the second half. Sarina Bolden (Chifure AS Elfen Saitama in Japan) doubled the advantage in the 65th minute, followed by Eva Madarang (Pozoalbense of Spain) three minutes later. Quinley Quezada (JEF United Chiba in Japan) and Anicka Castañeda (De La Salle University in the Philippines) scored in the 76th and 80th minute, respectively to complete the scoring. Stajcic said after the match, "It probably was not our best performance, but we are glad with the win. It was very tough and the conditions was (sic) hot and humid, but we found our form but we know that there's room for improvement."
The defending SEA Games Champions Vietnam defeated the Philippines at the 2021 Southeast Asian Games in the next match. American-born Tahnai Annis' 15th minute header gave her side the league but Vietnam scored in the 38th and 50th minutes through Nguyen Thi Tuyet Dung (28—Phong Phu Ha Nam in Vietnam) and Tran Thi Thuy Trang (22—Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Club in Vietnam) respectively to claim the three points.
Tahnai Annis' 15th minute header (in middle being embraced by two teammates) opened the scoring for the Philippines against Vietnam in the Southeast Asian Games, but the hosts came back to win 2-1 on May 11, 2022. Photo Courtesy Asian Football Confederation.
Despite the loss, the Philippines did make the knockout stage as Indonesia withdrew so Vietnam (6 points) and Philippines (3 points) advanced as the top two teams, as both sided defeated Cambodia (0 points, 0 goals for and 12 against). The Group A matches were held in Cam Pha Stadium in Quang Ninh, a province east of Hanoi.
In Group B, Thailand and Myanmar finished joint top with 7 points, with Thailand holding a better goal difference (+8 to +4) to finish as a top seed in the knockout stage. Singapore had 3 points and Laos finished with 0 points (0 goals for and 9 against in 3 games).
In the semifinals on May 18, Thailand defeated Philippines 3-0 in Quang Ninh in front of 3,565 fans, with goals by Silawan Intamee in the 22nd minute, Taneekarn Dangda in the 47th minute and Ploychompoo Somnonk in second-half injury time. Thailand was able to reverse their 1-0 defeat to Philippines in the first group match of the AFC Women's Asian Cup earlier this year. Intamee (28) previously played with Taichung Blue Whale in Taiwan, the club at the Taiwan National University of Sport, and is now with Chonburi FC at home. First capped in 2014, she is nearing a century of caps. Dangda (29) plays at home with MH Nakhon Si Lady after moving from Chonburi and played in Sweden for two years with Ostersunds DFF; her brother is a full international for Thailand. Somnonk (19) plays with Khon Kaen in the northeastern portion of the country.
In the other match, Vietnam only needed a goal from their captain Huynh Nhu (Ho Chi Minh City FC and a four-time Vietnamese player of the year) in the 28th minute to defeat Myanmar and make the final. The game attracted a crowd of 15,950.
In the placement games on May 21, Philippines played Myanmar for third place and had to overcome a 1-0 deficit when Myanmar's Win Theingi Tun (27—who played last season with Gokulam Keala in Indian's Women's League and won two league titles at home with Myawady in 2016-17 and 2017-18) scored from the penalty spot in the 24th minute, but the Philippines won the match 2-1 with second half goals from Bolden and Quezada in the 73rd and 76th minute. Vietnam defeated Thailand 1-0 in the final with a goal from Huynh Nhu around the hour mark in front of 16,020 fans.
Though some view this tournament as a minor sub-regional tournament as part of a multi-sport event, it was a very important tournament for the hosts Vietnam, who qualified for their first ever Women's World Cup Finals next year by finishing fifth in the Women's Asian Cup Finals earlier this year. The Philippines, also Women's World Cup bound for the first time, faced much tougher competition than they did against the OFC sides in Australia (see above) and both sides will want to book future friendlies with teams from Europe and the Americas in their preparation for their debut Finals next summer, much as Vietnam did ahead of the AFC Qualifiers, by playing friendlies against clubs in Spain. Both sides will want to schedule games against full international teams, but the club approach is not bad to include as well, as many times those sides are quite well organized and can present different tactical challenges. Thailand also received valuable experience in Vietnam as their Women's World Cup bid is still alive. Thailand—and also Chinese Taipei—are through to the FIFA Intercontinental Playoffs for the 2023 WWC and hope to qualify for their third consecutive Finals. Their continuing preparations will be interesting to track as well.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get yours copy today.
Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey
