Kambe: Guam feat should inspire CNMI strikers

The still developing CNMI Men’s Football Team should draw inspiration from Guam, which conquered the East Asian Football Championships 2010 Preliminary Competition held at the Leo Palace Resort.

This was according to CNMI coach Sugao Kambe, who was asked about lessons learned from the qualifying tournament.

“Guam is ranked last in FIFA [201st], but was able to win the tournament against the higher-ranked teams of Mongolia [193rd] and Macau [197th]. With long preparation and a young lineup, Guam was able to win the preliminary competition for the first time,” Kambe said.

Guam scored seven points in the round-robin tournament, beating Mongolia (4-1), and the CNMI (3-2) before forcing a 2-2 draw against Macau to secure a semifinals spot in the EAFF tournament. Mongolia settled for second, Macau dropped to third, and the CNMI, which was the lone unranked team in the field, was last.

“A few years ago, Guam was losing games in EAFF. But these losses made them better players. Instead of being discouraged by defeats against higher-ranked foes, they were challenged to improve their games in every tournament,” added Kambe, who coached Guam from 2003 to 2005.

“We can do that here, too. Expectations for a team that is just starting to grow are low, but as years pass by, as players gain more experience, and improve their skills, we should raise these expectations,” Kambe said.

“We will struggle in the first few years, but if we keep working hard and continue to find ways to improve our program, we will reap results in due time,” he said.

The CNMI coach added that the three goals they scored in the tournament was a good start towards the Commonwealth’s goal of reaching the level of competitiveness of teams in the zone.

“If Guam can do it, we can do it too. We just need teams that are composed of young, but skillful players. We need to get the youth more involved in the National Team. Teach them the proper mechanics of the game, hone their skills, and bring them to various tournaments, just like what Guam have been doing in the past years since becoming a FIFA member in 1996,” Kambe added.

Guam’s lineup is composed of players in the early and mid 20’s, while the CNMI had only two high school players [Lucas Knecht and Daniel Macario], and the rest are in the mid 30s’ and early 40s.

Kambe is hoping to still see Knecht and Macario in the National Team in the next few years and recruit more younger players.

For now, the CNMI coach will keep his roster and continue their training. He is also hoping that the team can play in friendly matches in Guam and in the Philippines.

“We don’t stop training because the tournament is done. We will continue to train and work on improving our players’ skills,” Kambe said.