Auckland City FC

The 2021 Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) Champions League was cancelled due to the various COVID-19 restrictions across OFC’s Member Associations, meaning no matches were played.

As a result, OFC’s Executive Committee nominated a representative from the Confederation based strictly on sporting merit principles, the representative being Auckland City FC.

Kaltack, who is based in New Zealand where he plays for Auckland City FC in the national league, wants to be a full-time professional in the future.

The defender is following a similar route to Krishna who turned out for Waitakere United and Auckland City in New Zealand’s domestic league before graduating to a professional deal with the Wellington Phoenix in 2014 where his career exploded.

Krishna now captains ATK Mohun Bagan FC in the Indian Super League and Kaltack said Krishna had shown what was possible for players from the Pacific Islands.

The Group D winners hosted the Group A runners-up on the afternoon of April 5^th.

Both sides were equally matched in the first 20 minutes, defending and making defenders rush to secure their goal area.

The tug-of-war ended when Auckland City’s David Browne curved a through ball into the visitors’ net.

The Lae boys, determined to make the hosts work, kept them at bay until the half time whistle.

A return from break saw the elusive Browne dribble around Toti City defenders – Valentine Nelson and Mosie Milubwa – to double his team’s tally.

Madang FC, Lautoka FC, AS Venus and defending champions Auckland City FC make up the pool.

The opening match will be between Madang FC and Fiji’s Lautoka FC at 1pm (10am PNG time) this Sunday.

Following this AS Venus from Tahiti takes on the home side Auckland City FC starting at 4pm.

The format is the same with the top two teams to advance on to the quarter-finals.

PNG’s other team in the Champions League, Lae City Dwellers FC, made history last Friday by becoming the second team from PNG to advance past the pool matches after finishing second in Pool A.