This afternoon, the Chatham Cup semifinal draw took place at North Harbour Stadium, with Auckland United’s coach, Jose Figueira, as the guest of honor.

Figueira, who is currently fighting for a spot in the National League Championship with his club, also played a crucial role in the success of the national team that recently won the OFC Men’s U-19 Championship in Samoa, as Assistant Coach. Before the draw began, Figueira expressed his happiness at achieving the goal of winning the championship with the U-19 team and praised the efforts of the entire squad that made up the national team.

Since the Chatham Cup is now in the final stages, the draw only took a few minutes. The first two teams to be drawn were Coastal Spirit and Wellington Olympic, who will face it off in one of the semifinals. As Coastal Spirit were drawn first, they will play at home. On the other side of the draw, in the second semifinal, Auckland City FC (drawn first) will host Birkenhead United at Kiwitea Street. 

The four teams that have reached this stage have proven themselves to be among the best throughout the season. Coastal Spirit, currently second in the Southern League, has yet to lose a match this year. Wellington Olympic has won 12 consecutive games and is close to securing the Central League title, while Auckland City FC and Birkenhead United are neck and neck in the Northern League.

All semifinal matches will be played during the weekend of August 17th, alongside the games between Dunedin City Royals vs Western Springs and Wellington Phoenix Reserves vs Auckland United in the Kate Sheppard Cup.

The exact dates and times for the matches will be confirmed by the clubs in the coming days.

Article added: Tuesday 30 July 2024