Michael Foster

The PNG Kapuls captain spent whole of last year playing in Australia and is now ready to help his home side at the Champions League.

Michael Foster is a household soccer name in Madang and he spent whole of last year in Australia playing with Geelong Football club with countryman Hillary Harry Jenkins, before joining Malaita Kingz of Solomon Islands towards the end of 2017.

Foster brings with him a formidable international record of 32 games and seven goals.

“The FIFA slogan is ‘My Game is Fair Play’ but unfortunately, we have not had fair play in the two last home matches.

“We have been refereed in a way that has been deciding for the match against Tahiti where David Browne was sent out. Last night, Felix Komolong was sent out in a very unfair way.

“I don’t know if referees don’t like Papua New Guineans. If they don’t do, I don’t understand it because Papua New Guineans are very humble and very polite people so there’s no reason not to like them.

The PNG Kapuls will be banking on home crowd support to upset the much fancy Tahitians in the first leg of the Group B FIFA 2018 World Cup Qualifier. 

The return match will be played in Papeete, Tahiti on March 28.

PNG men’s team had been overshadowed by the women’s performance for a long time.

The PNG women’s are the Queens of Pacific soccer with consecutive Pacific Games Gold Medals to prove their supremacy.   

Foster played for Malaita in the semi-professional 2016 Telekom Solomon National League competition in Honiara.

He is a current PNG Kapul and played for Lae City Dwellers in the 2015-2016 Telikom National Soccer League in Port Moresby.

Foster is back in the country after Kingz bowed out of the competition, finishing fourth on the ladder which was the best finish for the team.

Masalo said that Foster has been an outstanding player, one of the most consistent players for the Club and looks dangerous every time he touches the ball.

Foster, who played with Lae City Dweller in the PNG Football Association’s 2015-2016 Telikom National Soccer League (NSL), says the S-League was a good competition.

He has been a stand out player for Malaita Kings Football Club at the semi-professional league competition.

“It has been a good and new experience for me playing abroad for the first time in this competition,” Foster said.

In his final match with Malaita Kingz last week, Foster scored their only goal, while fellow countryman Tommy Semmy scored a hat trick for Marist FC, who won the match 3-1.

The Kapuls flanker walked off the league proudly as he left a mark in the Solomon Islands premier football league and the Mailaita Kingz Football Club.

Foster played his final game last week against his Kapuls teammates who are with Marist FC: Tommy Semmy, David Muta, Koriak Upaiga and Daniel Joe, in the round two of the TNSL.

It was an all Kapuls affair as Semmy scored a hat trick, while Foster slotted the Kingz only goal and his final for the team.

The first round of matches in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Qualifiers OFC Stage 3 has been confirmed with the Group B encounter Tahiti and Solomon Islands kicking things off on  November 7,  in Papeete.

Papua New Guinea and Fiji will sit out Round one of stage 3 with byes and rejoin the action in Round 2 of the games.

With Solomon Islands and New Caledonia will prepare for their upcoming encounters with two friendly matches in Honiara next month.

This was during his Solomon Islands National Soccer League season opener with the Malaita Kingz Football Club.

Foster added the PNG flavour into a creamed Vanuatu and Solomon football club as he starred in the Malaita Kingz 3 nil victory over F.C Guadalcanal.

In his first game yesterday, Foster played a key role in all 3 goals, which was a jaw-dropping moment for the crowd.

He also got on the scoreboard with a screamer of a shot from outside the 18 yard box that flashed through the goal mouth.