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Speaker 1: You're listening to the Weekend Sport podcast with Jason Vine

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Speaker 1: from Newstalks EDB.

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Speaker 2: We'll finally have its first professional football league. The OFC

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Speaker 2: Pro League kicks off at Eden Park this afternoon. All

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Speaker 2: eight competing clubs will play three matches and six days

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Speaker 2: during the first round of the competition in Auckland. There'll

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Speaker 2: be seventy two matches during the competition's inaugural season, with

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Speaker 2: the league returning to Auckland for finals in May. The

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Speaker 2: opening match this afternoon is between Buller FC out of

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Speaker 2: Fiji and Vanawatu United FC. Stars signing for Buller FC

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Speaker 2: markey player for the entire competition is Fiji. In football legend,

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Speaker 2: Roy Krishna. Roy Krishna, opportunity here for Roy Krishna bets

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Speaker 2: the kipper Roy Krishna.

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Speaker 1: Magic from Roy Krishna.

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Speaker 2: That's why you have number nine and the take off

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Speaker 2: your shirt.

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Speaker 1: That is the meaning of number nine.

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Speaker 2: One moment of brilliance, Right Krishna. Roy Krishna, the Fiji

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Speaker 2: national teams all time leading goal scorer, a fan favorite

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Speaker 2: during his time with Wellington Phoenix, of course, and now

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Speaker 2: the marquee player for Baller f See Roy Krishna is

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Speaker 2: with us right, thanks for joining us mate, Great to

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Speaker 2: get the chance to chet you again. How special is

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Speaker 2: it to come home and play professional football for a

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Speaker 2: Fiji inside.

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Speaker 3: First of all, thank you, paying Happy New Year, and yeah,

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Speaker 3: I think I'm just excited, happy and blessed to be home,

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Speaker 3: especially you know, playing for our first club in a

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Speaker 3: professional environment. So I'm just excited and very happy.

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Speaker 2: When the opportunity was presented to you. Was it a

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Speaker 2: fairly easy one to say yes to?

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Speaker 3: Yes when they used kind of my little one, But yeah,

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Speaker 3: it was just home, you know, a way I've been

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Speaker 3: a way to India for a while and then you're

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Speaker 3: coming home. I think my little one is growing, so

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Speaker 3: you know she was the ones like that I want

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Speaker 3: you around. She's four, but you know she can talk,

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Speaker 3: So yeah, I think it was not just on me.

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Speaker 3: I think also I needed the coach. If he's you know,

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Speaker 3: if he's the things that he wanted me, the way

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Speaker 3: he wants me to play, or was fitting his system.

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Speaker 3: There was the other key factor that you know, he

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Speaker 3: approached me and everything from there onwards was on the

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Speaker 3: au straet line. So yeah, I think I'm just excited

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Speaker 3: and happy that I got the opportunity, you know, to

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Speaker 3: be at home and to play for my club.

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Speaker 2: How big is the Ocean Pro League for the game

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Speaker 2: of football, but specifically Inji to show young Fijian players

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Speaker 2: that there was a pathway to professional football for them.

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Speaker 3: He's a huge punny, He's huge because you know, we

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Speaker 3: as a Austania or Aphigian, you know, we we are

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Speaker 3: waiting for these opportunities and you know, you're struggling to

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Speaker 3: get it in a leagues. If you're talking about me,

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Speaker 3: it took me a while to get a professional club.

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Speaker 3: So you know, now having something in the backyard, I

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Speaker 3: think it's a great platform, you know. And yeah, it's

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Speaker 3: not up to the the young players, not just from Fiji,

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Speaker 3: from Oceania to you know, if they want to play

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Speaker 3: professional you know, it's a great opportunity.

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Speaker 2: And what an opportunity for them, the players and the

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Speaker 2: Bullet team to learn from you. How keen are you

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Speaker 2: to show the younger players in your team what is

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Speaker 2: required to be a professional player?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you know, for me, you know, whatever

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Speaker 3: experience I've gained overseas, it's time for pretty much to

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Speaker 3: give back to the to the young Fijians and you know,

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Speaker 3: The good thing from these young boys are they are learning.

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Speaker 3: They're learning, so you know, for me it makes me

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Speaker 3: work easy. But yeah, I think you know, on the

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Speaker 3: right track, you know, and yeah, we just can't wait

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Speaker 3: for the weekend.

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Speaker 2: Well, it sounds like this high excitement in the background there.

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Speaker 2: It sounds like your baller ups boys are just about

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Speaker 2: ready to go. How how's it been since you since

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Speaker 2: you came together as a team.

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Speaker 3: Since I joined the boys, I kind of watched them

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Speaker 3: from outside. You know, they've been doing a lot of

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Speaker 3: running for them, you know, this is something new. But

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Speaker 3: you know they don't give up. You know, there's the

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Speaker 3: mental of the Fijians. And I also give credit to

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Speaker 3: the foreign boys that have come. You know, they don't

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Speaker 3: you know, there's no excuses. You know, we're going to

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Speaker 3: play in the Islands as well, so they are getting

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Speaker 3: used to the heat. But I'm surprising, you know, very

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Speaker 3: excited because you know, the young boys are you know,

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Speaker 3: on the right track. They have a right mindset. I'm

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Speaker 3: just telling them, you know, just discipline, you know, what

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Speaker 3: to do off the field, because we just played ninety

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Speaker 3: minutes on the field. It's just a matter of fact.

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Speaker 3: The thing lane is what you do outside the field.

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Speaker 3: You know how much rest you get, what you eat,

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Speaker 3: you know, how you look after every body. But the

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Speaker 3: boys are on the right track.

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Speaker 2: They're very fortunate to have you around. The competition, as

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Speaker 2: you say, moves around the region Auckland this way can

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Speaker 2: then Papua New Guinea, Australia, the Solomons and then in

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Speaker 2: April all our teams will play and Faiji, how special

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Speaker 2: is that we can be for you?

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Speaker 3: For us, I think you know we are excited, but

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Speaker 3: you know, I'm just happy for the people of Fiji,

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Speaker 3: you know, to to kind of feel and you know,

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Speaker 3: to see in life, you know, the professional games. So yeah,

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Speaker 3: I'm excited for the people of Fiji. And you can

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Speaker 3: see we're already getting support you back at home, and

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Speaker 3: of course you know coming to Auckland, you know there

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Speaker 3: is a huge Fijian community. And I hope and I

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Speaker 3: pray the commod in numbers because we need the twelve men.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely they will. And I noticed on the squad Liss

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Speaker 2: you're gonna wear the number twenty one for Boller refsay

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Speaker 2: sign number you war the finex breaking records down here?

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Speaker 2: Was it was it deliberate? Was that the number you wanted.

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Speaker 3: Yes, I think you know, I've I've I wanted. It's

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Speaker 3: very special, especially because you know you're being in a

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Speaker 3: professional environment. You wanted a small number, but you know

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Speaker 3: I had to end the twenty one because when when

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Speaker 3: you look at number twenty one at Wellington Phoenix, you

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Speaker 3: know there's some huge players that were wearing that. So

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Speaker 3: it's very special to me, you know. But yeah, I

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Speaker 3: think when I when I play national team, it's nine,

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Speaker 3: but professional twenty one and I look like twenty one anyway, So.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's such a right Sucher're right, absolutely. I mean

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Speaker 2: you've been you've been gone from the I League for

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Speaker 2: a while now, your last season twenty eighteen nineteen. You've

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Speaker 2: been in India in the time since. But how do you

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Speaker 2: look back on your time in Wellington one hundred and

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Speaker 2: twenty two games, club record, fifty one goals. No one's

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Speaker 2: going to pay that. How do you how do you

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Speaker 2: remember your time in Wellington?

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Speaker 3: Oh, Wellington plays is huge, but you know it's a

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Speaker 3: special part. You know, first professional club gave me the

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Speaker 3: opportunity to be to have a taste of professional environment,

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Speaker 3: so you know, always special. But like planing, this you

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Speaker 3: know this, all these records, you know, will hit me

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Speaker 3: when I retire. Right now, I'm I know, I feel

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Speaker 3: still young. You know, my body is feeling good, you know,

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Speaker 3: coming back from a major injury. You know, I know

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Speaker 3: I learn a lot, you know, and my body is

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Speaker 3: feeling good. So yeah, I'm just enjoying every moment of

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Speaker 3: it because I know it's not long to go. But yeah,

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Speaker 3: I'm just gonna enjoy my moment every day waking up,

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Speaker 3: you know, just go and play football, which I love.

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Speaker 3: But all these memories, all these records will hit me

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Speaker 3: when I when I retire, and you know, so right now,

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Speaker 3: I'm just focusing on my football career.

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Speaker 2: Yeah well that's that feels to me like it might

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Speaker 2: be a way way off. Yet you still look like

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Speaker 2: you're twenty one from what I can say, so there

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Speaker 2: might be a few more years lay football or say

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Speaker 2: Roy all the base for the first time and in

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Speaker 2: fact for the first season of the Oceania probably can't

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Speaker 2: wait to say hey you go and look forward to

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Speaker 2: catching up again.

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Speaker 3: So thank you, Paney. It was a pleasure talking to.

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Speaker 2: You mate, Always a pleasure talking to you to Roy.

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Speaker 2: Roy Krishna from Buller FC They played the first game

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Speaker 2: in the Oceania Pro League Eden Park this afternoon three

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Speaker 2: o'clock kickoff against Vanawata United FC. I wonder they were

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Speaker 2: so loud in the background getting ready for the game.

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Speaker 2: Auckland FC up against South Island United seven o'clock tonight,

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Speaker 2: then tomorrow Tahita United against South Melbourne and Hikari FC

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Speaker 2: out of Papa New Guinea up against the Solomon Kings

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Speaker 2: from the Solomon Islands. Those are the eight sides taking

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Speaker 2: part in the inaugural season of the Oceania Pro League,

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Speaker 2: the first fully fledged professional football league in the Oceania Confederation.

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Speaker 1: For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Fine, listen live

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Speaker 1: to News Talk sed B weekends from midday or follow

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Speaker 1: the podcast on iHeartRadio