2006 OFC Club Championship

The 2006 OFC Club Championship was the 5th edition of the top-level Oceanic club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the last tournament before it was rebranded as the OFC Champions League. The qualifying round was held at Govind Park in Ba, Fiji, from 6 February until 10 February 2006, with the main competition taking place at the North Harbour Stadium in Albany, New Zealand from 10 May until 21 May 2006.

2006 OFC Club Championship
Tournament details
Dates6 February - 21 May 2006
Teams11 (from 10 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsNew Zealand Auckland City (1st title)
Runners-upFrench Polynesia Pirae
Tournament statistics
Matches played22
Goals scored96 (4.36 per match)
Top scorer(s)Solomon Islands Benjamin Totori 7 goals

The tournament was the first of its kind to not have a representative from Australia competing, due to the nation's migration to the Asian Football Confederation, meaning the winners of the competition would for the first time be from a nation outside of Australia.

Australia's departure from the OFC meant that qualification for the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup was under question – in March 2006 it was reported that the Oceania champions would have to play a preliminary match against the J. League champions for a place in the main competition. However, later that month, it was announced that FIFA president Sepp Blatter had been unable to get the necessary support for the new format and as a result Oceania retained direct entry to 2006 FIFA Club World Cup. FIFA reviewed the format the following year.[1]

The winner of the tournament was Auckland City of New Zealand, who beat AS Pirae of Tahiti in the final.

Participants
Location of teams of the 2006 OFC Champions League.
Automatic entrants
Preliminary round entrants

The following teams entered the competition.

Association Team Qualifying method
Teams entering the group stage
New Caledonia New Caledonia AS Magenta 2004–05 New Caledonia Super Ligue champion
New Zealand New Zealand Auckland City 2005–06 New Zealand Football Championship grand final champion
2005–06 New Zealand Football Championship regular season premier
YoungHeart Manawatu 2005–06 New Zealand Football Championship regular season runner-up
Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea Sobou FC 2005 Papua New Guinea National Club Championship champion
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands Makuru FC 2006 Solomon Islands National Club Championship champion
French Polynesia Tahiti AS Pirae 2004–05 Tahiti Division Fédérale champion
Vanuatu Vanuatu Tafea FC 2005 Vanuatu National Super League champion
Teams entering the preliminary round
American Samoa American Samoa PanSa[lower-alpha 1] 2005 ASFA Soccer League champion
Cook Islands Cook Islands Nikao Sokattak 2005 Cook Islands Round Cup champion
Fiji Fiji Nokia Eagles 2006 Fiji Club Franchise League champion
Samoa Samoa Tuanaimato Breeze 2005 Samoa National League champion
Tonga Tonga Lotoha'apai United 2005 Tonga Major League champion
Notes
  1. PanSa withdrew from the competition.

Preliminary round

A preliminary round was held to determine the 8th and final participant in the final. The format was a group stage, with each team playing each other once. The winner of the group would qualify for the main draw.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Fiji Nokia Eagles 3 2 1 0 7 2 +5 7
Samoa Tuanaimato Breeze 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
Tonga Lotoha'apai 3 1 1 1 5 7 −2 4
Cook Islands Nikao Sokattack 3 0 1 2 2 5 −3 1
Source:
Lotoha'apai Tonga1–5Fiji Nokia Eagles
Vaihu 31' (Report) Tamanisau 17'
Nawatu 41'
Duguca 59'
Sabutu 81', 88'
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?
Nikao Sokattack Cook Islands1–2Samoa Tuanaimato Breeze
Tisam 15' (Report) Fa'aiuaso 72', 77'
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?
Nikao Sokattack Cook Islands1–3Tonga Lotoha'apai
Willis 10' (Report) Moala 54'
Makasini 61'
Uhatahi 67'
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?
Nokia Eagles Fiji2–1Samoa Tuanaimato Breeze
Tamanisau 55'
Bolaitoga 77'		 (Report) Fa'aiuaso 27'
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?
Lotoha'apai Tonga1–1Samoa Tuanaimato Breeze
Uhatahi 85' (Report) Esau 32'
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?
Nokia Eagles Fiji0–0Cook Islands Nikao Sokattack
(Report)
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?

First round

The eight remaining teams were separated into two groups, each team playing the other teams once. The top two teams from each group progress to the semi-finals. This First Round was held in Albany, New Zealand.

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
New Zealand Auckland City 3 3 0 0 11 1 +10 9
French Polynesia Pirae 3 2 0 1 17 2 +15 6
Solomon Islands Marist 3 1 0 2 9 14 −5 3
Papua New Guinea Sobou 3 0 0 3 1 21 −20 0
Source:
Marist1–10Pirae
Auckland City7–0Sobou
Auckland City3–1Marist
Pirae7–0Sobou
Sobou1–7Marist
Pirae0–1Auckland City

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
New Zealand YoungHeart Manawatu 3 1 2 0 8 5 +3 5
Fiji Nokia Eagles 3 1 1 1 6 3 +3 4
Vanuatu Tafea 3 1 1 1 4 7 −3 4
New Caledonia Magenta 3 1 0 2 1 4 −3 3
Source:
Magenta0–1Tafea
Nokia Eagles2–2YoungHeart Manawatu
Magenta0–3YoungHeart Manawatu
Tafea0–4Nokia Eagles
Tafea3–3YoungHeart Manawatu
Nokia Eagles0–1Magenta

Knockout stage

Semi finals

The top two teams from both groups progressed to the semifinals.

Auckland City New Zealand9–1Fiji Nokia Eagles
Sykes 37'
Seaman 52'
Jordan 55'
Young 61', 62'
Hayne 68'
Bunce 84'
Little 89', 90'+		 (Report) Tiwa 17'
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?
YoungHeart Manawatu New Zealand1–2French Polynesia Pirae
Totori 61' (Report) Hmae 1'
Bennett 8'
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?

Third Place Playoff
Nokia Eagles Fiji0–4New Zealand YoungHeart Manawatu
(Report) Totori (3)
Maemae
Attendance: ?
Referee: ?

Final
Auckland City New Zealand3–1French Polynesia Pirae
Jordan 23', 41', 63' (pen.) (Report) Fa'aiuaso 84'
Attendance: 2,000

Auckland City are the 2006 Oceania Club Champions and qualify for the 2006 FIFA Club World Cup.

See also

References
  1. Maddaford, Terry (31 March 2006). "Soccer: Oceania winner retains direct entry to club champs". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
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