| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nathaniel Lepani | ||
| Date of birth | 20 January 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | Papua New Guinea | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [1] | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Brisbane City FC | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2001–2002 | Cosmos Port Moresby | ||
| 2002 | Menlo Oaks | ||
| 2003–2009 | Brisbane City FC | ||
| 2009–2011 | Eastern Stars FC | ||
| 2011– | Gigira Laitepo Morobe | ||
| National team | |||
| 2001 | Papua New Guinea U-20 | 4 | (2) |
| 2004– | Papua New Guinea | 12 | (9) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Nathaniel Lepani (born 20 January 1982) is a footballer from Papua New Guinea. Lepani plays as a midfielder and currently plays for Gigira Laitepo Morobe at club level and the Papua New Guinea national football team at international level.
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Lepani began his career in 2001 with Cosmos Port Moresby, [2] a team based in the capital of his home country. Just one year after joining Cosmos, however, the midfielder moved to the United States of America to play for Menlo Oaks, [3] while studying at Menlo College. He wore the no.7 shirt for the team. [4] After playing for the Californian club in the 2002 season, [5] [6] Nathaniel moved to another club and another country, this time transferring to Australia's Brisbane City FC in time for the 2003 season. He remained at the club until 2009, when he moved to Eastern Stars FC after returning to Papua New Guinea.
Eastern Stars finished fifth in the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League in 2009–10. [7] Lepani played more of a role in 2010–11, scoring a late penalty against PRK Hekari United on 20 November 2010 in a 3–1 defeat. [8] 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 Gigiri Laitepo on the opening day of the 2011–12 season, in a 3–0 loss to PRK Hekari United in November 2011. [9] He scored a penalty in a 3–2 defeat to NBS Tukoko University on 26 November 2011. [10]
Nathaniel played for Papua New Guinea U-20 in the 2001 OFC U-20 Championship held in the Cook Islands and New Caledonia. He scored twice for the side, in the 4-0 win over Cook Islands on 17 February 2004. [11] 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 Papua New Guinea on 14 January 2004 against the Solomon Islands in a 4-2 loss. He went on to make eight appearances that year, scoring against Fiji in a 2004 Summer Olympics qualifier on 18 January 2004, [12] and also netting against Samoa three times over two games. [13] [14]
In June 2008 he was called up to Papua New Guinea's Wantok Cup 2008 squad, [15] 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 in New Caledonia. [16] He justified his inclusion in the squad by scoring Papua New Guinea's fourth goal in their 4-0 win over the Cook Islands on 27 August 2011, after coming off the bench.[17] [18] Nathaniel was again a used substitute in the 1-1 draw with Tahiti on 1 September 2011, coming on just eleven minutes into the game after an injury to Reg Davani.[19] [20] He was later substituted off the pitch after Cyril Muta's red card. Lepani scored four times in the 17-1 demolition of Kiribati on 3 September 2011, including two goals in the space of a minute. [21] [22] He then played in Papua New Guinea's final group match, the 2-0 loss to Fiji on 5 September 2011 that meant Papua New Guinea were sent home. [23]
Lepani attended Port Moresby International School and St Peter's College [29] in Papua New Guinea and Menlo College, California in the United States. He then graduated from the Queensland University of Technology in 2006, after studying business. His mother is from the United States and his father is Papua New Guinean. [30] Nathaniel's brother, Andrew Lepani, is also a footballer and has played for Papua New Guinea. [31] [32] His grandmother is from the Trobriand Islands and still lives there. [33] In November 2006, Nathaniel met World Cup winner Christian Karembeu at the launch of the Oceania Football Confederation's OFC Champions League 2007. [34]