Alopua Petoa

Alopua Petoa (born 24 January 1990 in Nauru) is a footballer who plays as a striker for Tuvaluan club FC Nanumaga.[1] He is also a member of the Tuvalu national football team where he is also the all-time top scorer with 9 goals.

Alopua Petoa
Personal information
Date of birth (1990-01-24) 24 January 1990
Place of birth Yaren, Nauru
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 F.C. Nanumaga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2012 FC Tofaga 22 (22)
2012 Brabantia
2013-2014 Waitakere City FC 0 (0)
2014–2018 FC Tofaga
2019– FC Nanumaga
National team‡
2011– Tuvalu 13 (11)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 July 2019
Alopua Petoa in action (2011)

Personal life

Alopua was born in Nauru.[2]

Club career

Alopua began his career at FC Tofaga.[2] On 5 October 2012 he arrived at Schiphol, Amsterdam, for a training period of 3 months in the Netherlands. During these months he trained together with Vaisua Liva, at the second team of Brabantia. The goal of the training was to improve the quality of both football players and to prepare scouting reports for clubs in New Zealand. The goal is also to make both players the first semi-Pro footballers of Tuvalu. Besides training and playing for the second team of Brabantia both players also followed intensive training courses to become youth football coaches and they visited several matches of Dutch professional clubs.[3] From 2013 to 2014 Alopua played in New Zealand for Waitakere City FC.[4] He then went back to Tuvalu and played for FC Tofaga.[5]

International career

He made his debut for the Tuvalu national football team in the match against Samoa on August 22, 2011, which Tuvalu won 3–0. He scored all three goals.[2] In the following game against American Samoa at the 2011 Pacific Games, he scored another hat-trick.[6] He also played in the games against Vanuatu,[7] New Caledonia,[8] and Guam.[9] He scored against New Caledonia and Tonga at the 2017 Pacific Mini Games.

International goals
Scores and results list Tuvalu's goal tally first.[10]
NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.22 August 2011National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa Samoa1–03–0Friendly
2.2–0
3.3–0
4.27 August 2011Stade Rivière Salée, Nouméa, New Caledonia American Samoa1–04–02011 Pacific Games
5.3–0
6.4–0
7.5 December 2017Korman Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu New Caledonia2–02–12017 Pacific Mini Games
8.14 December 2017Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu Tonga3–34–3
9.7 June 2018Gander Green Lane, Sutton, England Tamil Eelam1–03–42018 CONIFA World Football Cup
10.3–2
11.12 July 2019National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa American Samoa1–01–12019 Pacific Games

References
  1. "Alopua Petoa Stats, News, Bio". ESPN. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  2. "Interview with Alopua Petoa". Oceania No FIFA. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  3. "Cruijff en Kromme' uit Tuvalu jagen droom in Nederland na". 5 October 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  4. "Vaisua Liva and Alopua Petoa start their internship at Waitakere City FC". 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  5. Strack-Zimmermann, Benjamin. "Alopua Petoa". National Football Teams. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  6. "Tuvalu have defeated American Samoa 4–0 in their men's Group A match at Rivière Salée in Noumea on day one of the XIV Pacific Games". Oceania Football Confederation. August 27, 2011. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  7. "Vanuatu have beaten Tuvalu 5–1 in their men's Group A match at Riviere Salée in Nouméa at the XIV Pacific Games". Oceania Football Confederation. August 30, 2011. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2011.
  8. "New Caledonia have defeated Tuvalu 8–0 in their men's Group A match at Riviere Salée in Nouméa at the XIV Pacific Games". Oceania Football Confederation. September 1, 2011. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  9. "Guam and Tuvalu have drawn 1–1 in their men's Group A match at Rivière Salée in Nouméa at the XIV Pacific Games". Oceania Football Confederation. September 4, 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  10. "Petoa, Alopua". National Football Teams. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
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