Hekari to host three regional clubs in Oceania champions league

THE Hekari United football club will host three clubs from the region for the Oceania Football Confederation Champions League Group A fixtures at the Papua New Guinea Football Stadium in Port Moresby next month.
Host club Hekari (PNG), New Zealand (Eastern Suburbs AFC), New Caledonia (Hienghène Sport) and Vanuatu (Galaxy FC) will tussle against each in a group ‘A’ matches.
Hekari take on New Zealand’s Eastern Suburbs on Feb 16, then face New Caledonia’s Hienghène on Feb 19 and the final group match against Vanuatu’s Galaxy on Feb 22.
Franchise owner Vonnie Kapi Natto believes that other teams have two to three Brazilians and three to four Solomon Islanders in their ranks.
“I don’t know whether they have some Fijians playing or not, but that’s how serious they are,” Kapi Natto said.
“Therefore, we have to gather good players to compete against those top teams to be on par with their standard. “The inclusion of two Brazilians and Solomon Islanders to Hekari will boost our team to compete with other teams,” she said.
“I don’t want to go there as an entertainer in the competition, I want a team to really prepare for it to win the competition.”
She also challenged PNG players not to take things for granted as they were given the opportunity to play in NSL and Champions League.
“They must take pride in representing the country and have the motivation to win,” she said.
“We will finalise a 23-man squad for the Champions League to start training next week.”