Alopua Petoa

Alopua Petoa (born 24 January 1990) is a footballer who plays as a striker for FC Tofaga. Born in Nauru, he is a Tuvalu international.

Alopua Petoa
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-01-24) 24 January 1990
Place of birth Nauru
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 FC Tofaga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–2012 FC Tofaga
2012 Brabantia
2013–2014 Waitakere City
2014–2018 FC Tofaga
2019– FC Nanumaga
International career
2011– Tuvalu 13 (9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Early life

Born in Nauru, Petoa started playing football at the age of ten before becoming a naturalized Tuvalu citizen and helping Tuvaluan side Vatokami win the 2004 Independence Cup.[1]

Club career

In 2012, through Dutch manager Foppe de Haan, Petoa signed for Dutch side Brabantia with Vaisua Liva, which was regarded to have made them more well-known.[2]

In 2013, he signed for New Zealand side Waitakere City with Vaisua Liva, becoming the first professional Tuvaluan players in history.[3]

International career

Petoa has been regarded as one of the best players in Tuvalu and has been the all-time top scorer of the Tuvalu national team.[4]

On 22 August 2011, Petoa debuted for the Tuvalu national team during a 3–0 win over the Samoa, scoring a hat-trick in what was Tuvalu's first international match in four years and their highest victory in history.[5] He then scored for the Tuvalu national team during a 4–3 loss to Tamil Eelam at the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup.[6]

Style of play

Petoa mainly operates as a striker and is known for his dribbling.[7]

Personal life

Petoa had not been in a plane until he arrived in the Netherlands to sign for Dutch side Brabantia.[4]

Career statistics
Scores and results list Tuvalu's goal tally first.[8][9]
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
122 August 2011Fiji Samoa1–03–0Friendly
22–0
33–0
427 August 2011Stade Rivière Salée, Nouméa, New Caledonia American Samoa1–04–02011 Pacific Games
53–0
64–0
75 December 2017Korman Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu New Caledonia2–02–12017 Pacific Mini Games
815 December 2017Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu Tonga3–34–3
912 July 2019National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa American Samoa1–01–12019 Pacific Games

CONIFA goals

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
17 June 2018Gander Green Lane, Sutton, England Tamil Eelam1–03–42018 CONIFA World Football Cup
23–1

References
  1. "Alopua Petoa - Oceania NÃO FIFA article".
  2. "Alopua Petoa - Omroep Brabant article".
  3. "Vaisua Liva and Alopua Petoa start their internship at Waitakere City FC". Tuvalu National Football Association. 2013. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014.
  4. "Alopua Petoa - Algemeen Dagblad article".
  5. "Alopua Petoa - De Stentor article".
  6. "Sport: Tuvalu footballers beaten in stoppage time". RNZ. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  7. "Alopua Petoa - Trouw article".
  8. "Alopua Petoa". National Football Teams.
  9. "Tamil Eelam 4-3 Tuvalu". www.conifa.org. CONIFA. 7 June 2018. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
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