Benjamin Mata (born 10 August 1998) is a

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who currently plays as an defender for Wellington Olympic and the Cook Islands national team.

Club career

Mata began his youth career with Wanderers SC. After his departure from the club he joined

Onehunga Sports Onehunga Sports Football Club is a youth football club based in Onehunga, New Zealand. A senior side formerly competed in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Premier, last appearing in the competition in 2019. The club is widely regarded within New Zea ...

. The following season he was signed to the reserve side of

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

of the A-League. He was one of two players to receive the

Winston Reid Winston Wiremu Reid (born 3 July 1988) is a New Zealand professional footballer who last played as a defender for club West Ham United. He captained the New Zealand national team. He has also played for Midtjylland with loan periods at Sport ...

Scholarship to join the club. In 2017 he committed to play

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United K ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for the

Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

of Missouri State University. However, he did not go on to appear for the team. In 2018 Mata joined

Papakura City Papakura City was a city near Auckland, New Zealand. It existed from 1975 to 1989. History Papakura City was constituted as a city on 1 January 1975. It existed until the 1989 local government reforms, when "Papakura City" was subsumed by "Papa ...

for one season. In 2019 he joined Tupapa Maraerenga of the

Cook Islands Round Cup Tower Insurance Premiership is the top division of the Cook Islands Football Association in Cook Islands. The winner qualifies for the OFC Champions League. Current champions Nikao Sokattak F.C. won the 2021 Tower Insurance Premiership. Competi ...

. He made two appearances for the club in 2019 OFC Champions League qualification, scoring three goals. Later in 2019 he moved to

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was a New Zealand semi-professional football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most succe ...

. He remained with the club until 2021 when he signed across town with Wellington Olympic. During his first season with Olympic, Mata helped the team win the

Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consi ...

title that season. After the move to Olympic he was named captain of the squad.

International

Mata represented his native New Zealand at the youth level. He made his debut for the nation at the

2015 OFC U-17 Championship The 2015 OFC U-17 Championship was the 16th edition of the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 17 and below. The tournament was held in American Samoa and Samoa ...

. After qualifying as champions of the

2017 OFC U-17 Championship The 2017 OFC U-17 Championship was the 17th edition of the OFC U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) for players aged 17 and below. The tournament was held i ...

, he was then part of the squad that advanced to the round of 16 in the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He captained the side in the team's round of 16 loss to

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In March 2022 it was confirmed that Mata had committed to representing the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

internationally and had been included in the nation’s squad for

2022 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2022 FIFA World Cup qualificationAlso the "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers". was the qualifying process which decided the 31 teams that would join hosts Qatar, who received an automatic spot, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Parallel tourn ...

. He went on to make his senior international debut on 17 March 2022 in the opening match against the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. He served as captain of the squad in his first-ever appearance.

International career statistics

Personal

Mata was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. He is the brother of fellow footballer

Max Mata Max Andrew Mata (born 10 July 2000) is a New Zealand professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for League Of Ireland club Sligo Rovers and the New Zealand national football team, New Zeal ...

References

External links

National Football Teams profileSoccerway profileMissouri State Bears profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mata, Benjamin Living people 1998 births Association football defenders Cook Islands international footballers Cook Island footballers New Zealand expatriate association footballers New Zealand youth international footballers