KOSSA, TAFEA PLAY O-LEAGUE OPENER
Submitted by drupal on 20 July, 2007 - 11:04am
By EDDIE OSIFELO
KOSSA FC play Vanuatu champions Tafea FC here in their opening match in Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) O-League.The match is at Lawson Tama on 27 October, OFC Media confirmed yesterday.It signals the start of Group B of O-League action.OFC Media said this group looks likely to be the toughest of the two.That’s with highly-fancied Tafea FC returning to the head table of Oceania club football after two years away, it said.Tafea FC won their way into the O-League after winning the preliminary tournament in New Caledonia in emphatic fashion. They beat the New Caledonian and Papua New Guinea champions.Fiji’s representatives in the group are yet to be decided.But it looks likely that Ba will return to O-League action after maintaining a 100% winning record in the New World National Football League in Fiji.Ba have won four domestic trophies this season to go alongside their2007 O-League runners-up appearance.They will be hoping to go one step further this time around, provided they can seal their fifth domestic trophy of the year.KOSSA host the Fiji champions in their second match on 24 February.The King George Six old boys then travel to Vanuatu to play Tafea atPort Vila 26 March.Three days later KOSSA wrap up their O League pool play campaign against the Fiji champions in Fiji.KOSSA triumphed in the national club championship in Honiara earlier this year.Last week, KOSSA went down 2-1 to Papua New Guinea’s national teamin Honiara.Tomorrow, KOSSA take on the Solomon Islands national team at LawsonTama at 3pm.The match is a South Pacific Games warmup for the national squad.KOSSA coach Willie Lai is using the matches against the two national teams to prepare his team for the O League.In Group A of the O League, New Zealand Football Championship rivals Auckland City and Waitakere United will reignite their domestic rivalry. Tahitian newcomers AS Manu Ura, who deposed AS Temanava as club champions in French-Polynesia, are also in the group.Auckland City and AS Manu Ura kick-off the 2007/2008 O-League at Kiwitea Street October 27.Defending champions Waitakere United host AS Manu Ura at Auckland’s Trusts Stadium just four days later.
New Auckland City coach Colin Tuaa will look to use his intimateknowledge of the Tahitian environment to guide his new charges to thefinal.Here’s the groups and the games:
GROUP A
AUCKLAND CITY (NZL)WAITAKERE UNITED (NZL)AS MANU URA (TAH)
GROUP B
TAFEA FC (VAN)KOSSA FC (SOL)TBA (FIJ)
GROUP A
27/10/07 - Auckland City vs. AS Manu Ura31/10/07 - Waitekere United vs. AS Manu Ura17/02/08 - AS Manu Ura vs. Waitakere United20/02/08 - Auckland City vs. Waitakere United26/03/08 - AS Manu Ura vs. Auckland City30/03/08 - Waitakere United vs. Auckland City
GROUP B
27/10/07 - Kossa FC vs. Tafea FC30/10/07 - FIJI CLUB vs. Tafea FC20/02/08 - Tafea FC vs. FIJI CLUB24/02/08 - Kossa FC vs. FIJI CLUB26/03/08 - Tafea FC vs. Kossa FC29/03/08 - FIJI CLUB vs. Kossa FC
O-LEAGUE FINAL26/04/08 - 1st LEG04/05/08 - 2ND LEG
