WAITAKERE, New Zealand
–
Timbers forward
Benjamin
Totori
’s goal in the eithth minute helped his current club, Waitakere United of the New Zealand Football Championship capture the O-League championship with a 5-0 win over Kossa FC (Solomon Islands) on Sunday.
Totori’s goal led Waitakere to a 6-3 aggregate series win and a spot in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup in Japan on December 12-21. Waitakere has now won back-to-back O-League crowns.
Waitakere overcame a two-goal deficit entering the second leg of the O-League final at Trusts Stadium in Auckland after losing to Kossa 3-1 on April 26, in front of nearly 20,000 fans in the Solomon Islands – Totori’s native country.
Totori ranked third among NZFC scorers with 10 goals in 19 regular-season matches with Waitakere to lead the team to the league’s regular-season title, called the minor premiership, and the NZFC championship, known as the grand final, over Wellington on April 20.
In O-League competition, Totori scored four goals in six matches, including his strike in the final leg of the championship round.
The O-League is the Oceania region’s version of CONCACAF or UEFA Champions League tournaments where the top teams from respective leagues compete for region supremacy and the opportunity to compete in the FIFA Club World Cup – formerly known as the Club World Championship.
Signed by the Timbers on April 17, Totori is expected to arrive in Portland to join the team sometime in May.
Click here to read a full match report from the second leg of the O-League final in New Zealand.
To learn more about the O-League, visit
www.oceaniafootball.com
.
