Teen Ayuyus play better

The CNMI Boys U18 National Team captain Ryan Relucio, left, shakes hands with his counterpart in New Yangdong FC before the start of their game last Tuesday at the Changnyeong Sports Park in South Korea. (Contributed Photo)

The CNMI Boys U18 National Team’s second training match is in the books with the Teen Ayuyus showing better offense and defense in their 0-3 loss to New Yangdong FC last Tuesday at the Changnyeong Sports Park in South Korea.

“The CNMI played solid as a team, preventing and intercepting a lot of forward passes from our opponents. Our team had many scoring opportunities from Sunjoon Tenorio, Joshua De Leon, John Michael Rojas, and Ryan Relucio,” assistant coach Jersh Angeles wrote in his report to Northern Mariana Islands Football Association.

“We lost, but I would say New Yangdong FC is stronger and more technically skilled than our first opponent (Japan’s Kunimi High School). I also believe that our team played way better against New Yangdon after discussing our first match. The boys listened to coach Mita’s (Michiteru) tactics and they all tried to execute them,” Angeles added.

The CNMI team bowed to Kunimi, 1-4, last Monday, and then watched the video of its first training match Tuesday morning before challenging New Yangdong FC late in the afternoon. The squad discussed the attacking, defending, and transition of both teams and players were given the floor to present their thoughts about the match.

When it’s time to battle New Yangdong FC, the Teen Ayuyus made the adjustments and employed a tighter defense against the Korean team, silencing the latter majority of the first half before giving up a goal in the 35th minute. The last two goals came in the second half. Then late in the final half, the CNMI had a chance to hit the board when Relucio attacked New Yangdong FC’s defense and was fouled. Tenorio took the penalty shot, but New Yangdong FC’s goalie caught the ball for the save.

Besides creating scoring opportunities, the Teen Ayuyus also managed to rotate their players in their game versus New Yangdong FC. Eighteen from the 20-man roster played, while John Bucayo and Terrance Evan Thosert-Belcher stayed on the bench to nurse minor injuries.

“Hopefully, they will get better for our remaining matches. We are expecting to get better results in our last two games,” added Angeles, who thanked former CNMI Men’s National Team player Joel Fruit and TanHoldings FC standout Cosmos Kim for watching and supporting the Teen Ayuyus match last Tuesday.

The Commonwealth bets were scheduled to duel Japan’s Kyoto Kyoei Gakuen yesterday afternoon, while the former’s last game will be against Gwangju FC this morning.

“Gwangju probably is the best team in the training camp. It beat Kyoto Kyoei, 7-0,” Angeles said.

Meanwhile, aside from having training matches against Korean and Japanese youth teams as part of their five-day training camp, the Teen Ayuyus also attended lectures on nutrition and physical fitness.

Assistant coach Jonathan Takano facilitated the lecture on nutrition last Tuesday morning after the squad’s early morning jog and measurement.

“Players have to understand that as athletes they must take care of their body twice as much as non-athletic people by having proper food intake before and after the match,” Takano said.