Ne'emia Kaleopa
Ne'emia Kaleopa (born 9 May 1996) is an American Samoan footballer who plays as a defender for Utulei Youth in the FFAS Senior League and the American Samoa national football team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ne'emia Kaleopa | ||
| Date of birth | May 9, 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | American Samoa | ||
| Playing position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Utulei Youth | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2012–2014 | Pago Youth | ||
| 2014–2015 | FC SKBC | ||
| 2015– | Utulei Youth | ||
| National team‡ | |||
| 2013 | American Samoa U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2014– | American Samoa U20 | 4 | (0) |
| 2015– | American Samoa | 4 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 2 September 2015 | |||
Club career
Kaleopa started his career with Pago Youth. Which this club he won the 2012 FFAS Senior League and played 1 game in the 2013–14 OFC Champions League preliminary round. In 2014, he joined SKBC to play for them in the 2014–15 OFC Champions League preliminary round. In 2015, he moved to Utulei Youth. With this club he won the 2015 FFAS Senior League which meant that they qualified for the 2016 OFC Champions League preliminary stage. During this preliminary round Kaleopa played all 3 games.
International career
U17
In 2013 Kaleopa was called up to play with the American Samoa national under-17 football team in the 2013 OFC U-17 Championship preliminary round. He played all 3 matches during this competition. He didn't score during this tournament but he gave the assist for the first goal of the match, scored by Kaleopa Siligi, against Samoa. They eventually reached a second spot, before Samoa and Tonga. Although this was a very good result for American Samoa they failed to qualify for the main stage.
U20
In 2014 Kaleopa joined the U20's for the 2014 OFC U-20 Championship in Fiji. Kaleopa played 4 matches including games against Pacific giants like Vanuatu and New Caledonia. 4 of those 5 matches went for a loss but against Papua New Guinea they played 1-1. A historical draw for American Samoa.
National team
Kaleopa made his debut for the American Samoa national football team in a friendly match against Fiji on August 27, 2015, which ended in 6-0 loss. Kaleopa played all 3 games during the First Qualification Round for the 2018 World Cup.
Private
Ne'emia Kaleopa's older brother, Panweichi Kaleopa is also a member of the American Samoa national football team
Career statistics
International
| American Samoa | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 |
| Total | 4 | 0 |
Statistics accurate as of match played 10 September 2015[1]
Honours
Individual honours
- 2015 FFAS Senior League: Best Player
References
- Notes
- "Ne'emia Kaleopa". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
- Sources
- oceaniafootball.com at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-10-04)
- ffas.as at the Wayback Machine (archived 2015-10-03)