Kilifi Uele
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kilifi Uele | ||
| Date of birth | November 14, 1974 | ||
| Place of birth | Tonga | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Tonga (head coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1997–2019 | Veitongo | ||
| International career‡ | |||
| 1996–2017 | Tonga | 26 | (3) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 December 2017 | |||
Kilifi Uele (born November 14, 1974)[1] is a Tongan former footballer and manager who is the current Tonga national football team head coach.
According to the RSSSF, Uele is the second oldest goalscorer in the history of international football.[2]
International career
[edit]Uele made his debut internationally in 1994, with his team winning second place at the 1994 Polynesia Cup. He went on to score three international goals, including one against New Caledonia in 2017 at the age of 43. In January 2020, Uele, at the age of 45, represented Veitongo FC at the qualifying stage of the 2020 OFC Champions League. Uele also plays beach soccer internationally, and was part of the Tongan team making its debut at the 2019 OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup.[3]
International goals
[edit]- Scores and results list Tonga's goal tally first.[4]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 12 March 2002 | National Soccer Stadium, Apia, Samoa |  American Samoa |
4–1 | 7–2 | 2002 OFC Nations Cup qualification |
| 2. | 5 July 2003 | Vodafone Ratu Cakobau Park, Nausori, Fiji |  Micronesia |
7–0 | 7–0 | 2003 South Pacific Games |
| 2. | 9 December 2017 | Port Vila Municipal Stadium, Port Vila, Vanuatu |  New Caledonia |
2–3 | 2–4 | 2017 Pacific Mini Games |
Managerial career
[edit]Uele is the Technical Director of the Tonga Football Association, a post he has held since 2005. Uele coached his country's women's team to win a silver medal at the 2007 OFC Women's Championship. Uele was also the head coach of his country's U-19 women's team when they took runner-up in the OFC U-19 Women's Championship in 2006, losing 6–0 to New Zealand in the finals. Before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Uele helped run a new project to promote women's football in the more remote islands of Tonga. Later in 2020, Uele said his main focus was on the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[3][5][6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ "Kilifi UELE". FIFA. Archived from the original on April 11, 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ "Oldest and Youngest Players and Goal-scorers in International Football". RSSSF. Archived from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
- ^ a b "Tonga's football maestro". Archived from the original on 2024-02-22. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
- ^ "Uele, Kilifi". National Football Teams. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
- ^ "Football comes to Vava'u". March 3, 2015. Archived from the original on April 12, 2016.
- ^ "Hybrid FIFA course furthers Futsal, Beach Soccer in Tonga". FIFA. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ "Kilifi Uele, the grand maestro of Pacific football". Archived from the original on 2022-06-14. Retrieved 2022-06-14.
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