Port Moresby’s Hekari United are giants of Papua New Guinea football. Founded in 2003 originally under the name of PRK Souths United, the club holds the record for the most titles in the PNG National Soccer League. They won a staggering eight titles in a row between 2006 and 2014 and are one of just two clubs from outside New Zealand and Australia to have won the OFC Champions League, the other being New Caledonia’s Hienghene Sport. (2019) Hekari United’s greatest success came in 2010 when they represented OFC at the FIFA Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi. They had beaten New Zealand side Waitakere United 4-2 on aggregate in the OFC Champions League final after a 3-0 first leg win in Port Moresby and a 2-1 defeat in the second leg in Auckland. Hekari performed valiantly in a 3-0 defeat by hosts Al Wahda at the FIFA Club World Cup. The Hekari United team has been in transition for the past few years. They had recruited players from the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Brazil during their dominant years but now have a team made up entirely of local players. How Hekari United qualified for the 2023 OFC Champions League Hekari United upset the PNG National Champions Lae City 4-1 over two legs in the National Playoff in February. Lae City had represented PNG in last season’s OFC Champions League after a 2-1 win in a one off match. But Hekari had their sights set on revenge and came from a goal down to win the first leg in Lae City 2-1 before completing the job with two late goals in a 2-0 win in the second leg in Port Moresby.