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2015 OFC Champions League final

2015 OFC Champions League Final
Event2014–15 OFC Champions League
after extra time
Auckland City won 4–3 on penalties
Date26 April 2015
VenueNational Stadium, Suva
RefereeNorbert Hauata (Tahiti)
2014
2016

The 2015 OFC Champions League Final was the final of the 2014–15 OFC Champions League, the 14th edition of the Oceania Cup, Oceania's premier club football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the 9th season under the current OFC Champions League name.

The final was played between two New Zealand teams, Auckland City and Team Wellington. It was played at the National Stadium in Suva on 26 April 2015.[1] The winner earned the right to represent the OFC at the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup, entering at the qualifying play-off round.

Auckland City defeated Team Wellington 4–3 on penalties (1–1 after extra time) to win their fifth consecutive and seventh overall OFC club title.[2]

Background

This was the second final to be played as a single match during the OFC Champions League era. The previous single-match final, in 2013, was also the only previous final to feature two New Zealand teams, where Auckland City defeated Waitakere United.

Auckland City were the four-time defending champions. They had played in six previous finals, winning all of them in 2006, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. For Team Wellington, this was the first time that they reach an OFC club final.

On 16 March 2014, Auckland City defeated Team Wellington 1–0 in the 2013–14 ASB Premiership grand final to be crowned domestic champions. Both teams qualified for the 2014–15 OFC Champions League as they also finished first and second in the regular season. On 19 October 2014, Team Wellington defeated Auckland City 4–3 on penalties (2–2 full-time) in the season-opening ASB Charity Cup. In the 2014–15 ASB Premiership, both teams again finished first and second in the regular season, with the two teams each winning their home match against their final opponent (Team Wellington 4–0 Auckland City on 29 November 2014; Auckland City 3–0 Team Wellington on 15 February 2015).

Road to final

The final stage of the 2014–15 OFC Champions League was played in Fiji.

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first.

New Zealand Auckland City Round New Zealand Team Wellington
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Fiji Suva 3–0 French Polynesia Tefana 2–1
Solomon Islands Western United 3–0 Papua New Guinea Hekari United 2–0
Vanuatu Tafea 3–0 Vanuatu Amicale 3–2
Group B winner
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 New Zealand Auckland City 3 3 0 0 9 0 +9 9 Advance to semi-finals
2 Vanuatu Amicale 3 2 0 1 4 5 −1 6
3 Fiji Suva 3 1 0 2 5 7 −2 3
4 Solomon Islands Western United 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0
Source: OFC
Group C winner
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1 New Zealand Team Wellington 3 3 0 0 7 3 +4 9 Advance to semi-finals
2 Papua New Guinea Hekari United 3 2 0 1 6 6 0 6
3 Vanuatu Tafea 3 0 1 2 5 7 −2 1
4 French Polynesia Tefana 3 0 1 2 4 6 −2 1
Source: OFC
New Caledonia Gaïtcha 1–0 Semi-finals Fiji Ba 2–0

Rules

The final was played as a single match. If tied after regulation, extra time and, if necessary, penalty shoot-out would be used to decide the winner.

Match

Auckland City took the lead in the 14th minute through João Moreira's penalty, but Team Wellington equalized in the 79th minute, when Ian Hogg hammered in a loose ball after a free kick. The match went to extra time, and Auckland City missed the chance to retake the lead when Michael O'Keeffe saved Darren White's penalty, and the match ended 1–1, meaning the title had to be decided by a penalty shoot-out.

In the penalty shoot-out, both teams missed one penalty in the first four rounds, with Tamati Williams saving from Luis Corrales and O'Keeffe saving from Ángel Berlanga. In the fifth round, Hogg sent his penalty over the bar, and Kim Dae-wook converted his shot to give Auckland City the title.[2][3]

Auckland City
Team Wellington
GK 1 New Zealand Tamati Williams
DF 2 Serbia Marko Đorđević
DF 3 Japan Takuya Iwata
MF 4 Croatia Mario Bilen Yellow card 108'
DF 5 Spain Ángel Berlanga
DF 9 England Darren White
FW 10 New Zealand Ryan De Vries
MF 13 Spain Iván Carril Yellow card 41' downward-facing red arrow 89'
MF 15 New Zealand Ivan Vicelich (c) downward-facing red arrow 98'
FW 17 Portugal João Moreira downward-facing red arrow 85'
FW 19 Papua New Guinea David Browne Yellow card 78'
Substitutes:
MF 8 New Zealand Anthony Hobbs
MF 11 New Zealand Cameron Lindsay
MF 12 New Zealand Adam McGeorge upward-facing green arrow 98'
MF 14 New Zealand Colin Murphy
MF 16 South Korea Kim Dae-wook upward-facing green arrow 89'
GK 18 New Zealand Danyon Drake
FW 20 Spain Óscar García
FW 21 Spain Gustavo Souto upward-facing green arrow 85'
DF 22 New Zealand Andrew Milne
MF 23 New Zealand Sam Burfoot
GK 24 New Zealand Jacob Spoonley
MF 25 New Zealand Michael den Heijer
Manager:
Spain Ramon Tribulietx
GK 1 New Zealand Michael O'Keeffe
FW 2 New Zealand Tom Jackson downward-facing red arrow 33'
DF 3 New Zealand Aaron Scott downward-facing red arrow 78'
DF 5 England Bill Robertson
MF 8 New Zealand Cole Peverley (c)
FW 10 Costa Rica Luis Corrales
MF 11 New Zealand Michael Gwyther Yellow card 33'
DF 12 New Zealand Ian Hogg Yellow card 73'
MF 13 New Zealand Alex Feneridis Yellow card 38'
MF 16 New Zealand Justin Gulley
MF 19 Wales Chris Bale Red card 112'
Substitutes:
FW 6 New Zealand Sean Lovemore Yellow card 98' upward-facing green arrow 33'
DF 15 New Zealand Tim Myers upward-facing green arrow 78'
MF 18 New Caledonia Mickaël Partodikromo
MF 20 New Zealand Adam Cowan
GK 22 New Zealand Daniel Clarke
GK 23 New Zealand Alex Carr
FW 9 New Zealand Jarrod Smith (injured)
MF 17 New Zealand Jake Butler (injured)
DF 4 New Zealand Tyler Lissette (absent)
MF 7 Solomon Islands Henry Fa'arodo (absent)
MF 14 New Zealand Cory Chettleburgh (absent)
DF 21 New Zealand Tamupiwa Dimairo (absent)
Manager:
New Zealand Matt Calcott
National Stadium (also known as ANZ Stadium) in Suva, Fiji, hosted the final.

Assistant referees:
Tevita Makasini (Tonga)
Paul Ahupu (Tahiti)
Fourth official:
Robinson Banga (Vanuatu)

References

  1. ^ "OFC Insider Magazine (2015 Fiji Airways OFC Champions League Special Edition)". Oceania Football Confederation.
  2. ^ a b "Auckland City triumph in final thriller". Oceania Football Confederation. April 27, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-04-27. Retrieved 2015-04-26.
  3. ^ "Auckland City v Team Wellington Highlights". Youtube. April 28, 2015.