Nathaniel Lepani (born 20 January 1982) is a

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 ...

from

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Lepani plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Panamex FC; he has represented

Papua New Guinea national football team The Papua New Guinea national football team is the national team of Papua New Guinea and is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association. Its nickname is the ''Kapuls'', which is Tok Pisin for Cuscus. Papua New Guinea's highest ...

at international level on 12 occasions. Lepani has also played for Menlo Oaks in the US as well as several other clubs in Australia and

Early life

Born in Papua New Guinea in January 1982, Lepani moved to Hawaii as a young child, due to his father, a diplomat, being posted there for work. Nathaniel moved to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

with his family in 1991 when his father became Papua New Guinea's Ambassador to Belgium.

Club career

Lepani began his career in 2000–01 with Cosmos Port Moresby, a team based in the capital of his home country. In May 2001 he went on trial with Italian outfit Brescia Calcio, training with the club's ''primavera'' youth squad. He lasted for the maximum trial period of a month, and was one of two Papua New Guineans to be selected for trial (the other being

Alex Davani Alex Davani (born 17 August 1985) in Papua New Guinea is a footballer who plays as a midfielder. He has played for Brisbane Strikers FC and Taringa Rovers. He currently plays for Brisbane City in the Brisbane Premier League and the Papua New Gu ...

) but neither player was awarded a permanent contract. In 2002 the midfielder moved to the United States of America to study at

Menlo College Menlo College is a private college specializing in business and is located in Atherton, California. Campus Menlo College is situated on 45-acre (0.18 km2) campus in Atherton, California, 25 miles southeast of San Francisco and 20 miles nort ...

in California, playing for the college's team the Menlo Oaks at the same time. He wore the no.7 shirt for the team. Lepani scored a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

in an 11–0 win over Bethany College in October 2002. After playing for the Californian club in 2002–03, Nathaniel chose not to play at club level in 2004 due to

national team and university commitments. In 2005, Lepani joined Brisbane Premier League outfit

Brisbane City FC Brisbane City Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Newmarket, Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in 1952, the club competed in the National Soccer League until the 1986 season where they were relegated back to S ...

. He played for the club's first–team and reserve side during his only season at Spencer Park, scoring one goal. The following year the midfielder joined Taringa Rovers of the same division, again shuttling between reserve and first–team outings. Further work and university commitments stalled Lepani's club career until the 2007–08 season, when he joined

Ku-ring-gai Kuringgai (also spelled Ku-ring-gai, Kuring-gai, Guringai, Kuriggai) (,) is an ethnonym referring to (a) an hypothesis regarding an aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples occupying the territory between the southern borders of the Gamilar ...

district side Lindfield FC. Lepani was finally able to resume a regular career at club level after returning to Papua New Guinea in 2009. He signed for mid-table top-flight club Eastern Stars FC. Eastern Stars finished fifth in the

Papua New Guinea National Soccer League The KPHL National Soccer League, also known as the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited National Soccer League for sponsorship reasons, is the men's top division of professional soccer in Papua New Guinea. It is a nationwide league formed in 2006 by ...

in 2009–10. Lepani played more of a role in 2010–11, scoring a late penalty against

PRK Hekari United Hekari United, formerly known as POM Souths, Souths United, PRK Souths United and Hekari Souths United, is a professional football club formed in 2006, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The club holds the record for most titles in the Pap ...

on 20 November 2010 in a 3–1 defeat. Eastern Stars finished as league runners-up that season, but this didn't stop Lepani leaving the club to join Gigira Laitepo Morobe in the same league. Lepani made his debut for Gigira Laitepo on the opening day of the 2011–12 season, in a 3–0 loss to

in November 2011. He scored a penalty in a 3–2 defeat to NBS Tukoko University on 26 November 2011. The midfielder scored a free kick in a 3–1 win over Bulolo United on 4 February 2012. He left Gigira Laitepo at the end of the season. After a spell without a club, Lepani joined up with

Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...

outfit Edge Hill United in May 2013, having returned to Australia. He made his debut for the club on 2 June 2013, scoring a hat-trick in a 5–0 win over Innisfail United. On 16 June, the midfielder played in Edge Hill's 6–1 loss to Stratford Dolpins; Lepani was substituted after his team had the first of two players sent-off. In December 2013 he won the Panamex Soccer Cup Challenge in

Lae Lae () is the capital of Morobe Province and is the second-largest city in Papua New Guinea. It is located near the delta of the Markham River and at the start of the Highlands Highway, which is the main land transport corridor between the Highl ...

with Panamex FC, beating City United 2–1 in the final.

International career

Nathaniel played for Papua New Guinea U-20 in the 2001 OFC U-20 Championship held in 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 ...

and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. He scored twice for the side, in the 4–0 win over

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

on 17 February 2004. However, despite this win, Papua New Guinea finished bottom of their group and failed to make it to the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. Lepani made his senior debut for

on 14 January 2004 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 capita ...

in a 4–2 loss. He went on to make eight appearances that year, scoring against

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

in a

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

qualifier on 18 January 2004, and also netting against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

three times over two games. In June 2008 he was called up to

's Wantok Cup 2008 squad, but his country eventually withdrew from the competition. These eight caps remained Lepani's only appearances for the national team until he was called up for the men's football tournament at the

2011 Pacific Games The 2011 Pacific Games (officially known as NC 2011) took place in Nouméa, New Caledonia, from August 27 to September 10, 2011. Nouméa was the 14th host of the Pacific Games. Upon closure of the registration for entries, "some 4,300 athletes" h ...

. He justified his inclusion in the squad by scoring Papua New Guinea's fourth goal in their 4–0 win over 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 ...

on 27 August 2011, after coming off the bench. Nathaniel was again a used substitute in the 1–1 draw with

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...

on 1 September 2011, coming on just eleven minutes into the game after an injury to Reg Davani. He was later substituted off the pitch after Cyril Muta's red card. Lepani scored four times in the 17–1 demolition of

Kiribati Kiribati (), officially the Republic of Kiribati ( gil, ibaberikiKiribati),Kiribati
''The Wor ...

on 3 September 2011, including two goals in the space of a minute. He then played in

's final group match, the 2–0 loss to

on 5 September 2011 that meant Papua New Guinea were sent home. Despite his goals in the Pacific Games, Lepani was not included in Papua New Guinea's final squad for the 2012 OFC Nations Cup. Lepani later admitted he was "extremely" disappointed not to have made the squad, and revealed that a gash to his knee, which required "7 stitches and one week out from training camp" contributed to his exclusion.

International appearances and goals

Personal life

Lepani attended Port Moresby International School and St Peter's College in

and

, California in the United States. He then graduated from the

Queensland University of Technology Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public research university located in the urban coastal city of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. QUT is located on two campuses in the Brisbane area viz. Gardens Point and Kelvin Grove. The univ ...

in 2006, after studying business. His mother is from the United States and his father is Papua New Guinean. Nathaniel's brother,

Andrew Lepani Andrew Lepani (born 28 August 1979) in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, is a footballer who played as a midfielder for PS United Port Moresby, Cosmos Port Moresby and Hekari United in the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League and the Papua New ...

, is also a footballer and has played for

, Cosmos Port Moresby and

. His father,

Charles Lepani Sir Charles Lepani (born ???) is a former public servant and diplomat from Papua New Guinea. He was the country's high commissioner in Australia from 2005 to 2017 and, prior to that, had been its ambassador to both the European Union and sever ...

, is a diplomat and served as Papua New Guinea's High Commissioner to Australia from 2005 to 2017; he is considered as one of the "Gang of Four" public servants who came to prominence after Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975. His grandmother is from the

Trobriand Islands The Trobriand Islands are a archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main isla ...

and still lives there.Sanatoi Wedding in Port Moresby
17 January 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2012. In November 2006, Nathaniel met

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

winner

Christian Karembeu Christian Lali Kake Karembeu (born 3 December 1970) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is currently the sporting director for Olympiacos. Karembeu represented Nantes, Sampdoria, Real Madrid, ...

at the launch of the

Oceania Football Confederation The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) is one of the six continental confederations of international association football. The OFC has 13 members, 11 of which are full members and two which are associate members not affiliated with FIFA. It ...

's OFC Champions League 2007.

References

External links

* *
2012 Interview with Nathaniel Lepani
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lepani, Nathaniel Living people 1982 births Papua New Guinea men's international footballers Papua New Guinean men's footballers Papua New Guinean expatriate men's footballers Brisbane City FC players Queensland University of Technology alumni Eastern Stars F.C. players Morobe United F.C. players Papua New Guinean expatriate sportspeople in the United States Papua New Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football forwards Place of birth missing (living people)