{"id":402113,"date":"2023-11-28T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=402113"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Blue-Ayuyus-record-1st-win-in-Pacific-Games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Blue-Ayuyus-record-1st-win-in-Pacific-Games\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Ayuyus record 1st win in Pacific Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

HONIARA, Solomon Islands\u2014<\/strong>The CNMI Men\u2019s National Soccer Team recorded its first win in the Pacific Games and in the Oceania region after they defeated American Samoa, 4-0, yesterday morning at the SIFF 2.<\/p>\n

Team captain Jireh Yobech set the tone for the team as he notched a goal via penalty kick in the 21st minute. The rest of the first half was quiet as American Samoa\u2019s defense tightened up, but a slack in the second half allowed NMI strikers Ruben Guerrero and Nolan Ngewakl to follow their leader and tack more goals on the scoreboard.<\/p>\n

Guerrero went on to fire at the net not once but twice, to make it 3-0 by the 70th minute\u2014much to the delight of the Blue Ayuyus and NMI\u2019s supporters in the stands.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of the match in the 90th minute, the youngest player on the team, Nolan Ngewakl caught a quick break and scored the fourth and final goal after just a few seconds of being subbed into the match.<\/p>\n

To top it off, Merrick Toves, the team\u2019s main goalie, recorded his first international clean sheet\u2014meaning he did not concede a single goal in the match.<\/p>\n

Yobech said after the match that it went according to plan\u2014which was to score goals from the side as they had identified it as American Samoa\u2019s weakness. They defended strong centrally, so NMI\u2019s strikers moved the ball down the line, created some crossings, and pushed to score their goals.<\/p>\n

On his goal, he said, \u201cIt\u2019s my first senior men\u2019s goal. The moment they called for penalty, I knew it was going to be me and I knew exactly where I was going to put it and I put it there. I\u2019m satisfied with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for their team\u2019s first win in Oceania, he said that playing here was a new environment against new opponents, and they faced a lot of unknowns. \u201cI think the fact that we came here\u2014we had a good showing against Tahiti\u2014and had great results today (yesterday)\u2014it shows that we\u2019re competitive in Oceania. Hopefully that means the sky\u2019s the limit for us in Asia as well as we are part of the [Asian Football Confederation].\u201d<\/p>\n

Toves, for his part on not conceding a goal, said \u201cIt\u2019s a blessing. I thank my team for their hard work on the field defending and my coach Jersh [Angeles] for coaching us here, and Chris Aninzo for telling me what to do and be a better keeper. It\u2019s really a blessing for me and it motivates me.\u201d He also thanked his goalkeeper coach in England, Michal Korbel, who coached him before he came to Solomon.<\/p>\n

He added that the team knew they were going to win their match. \u201cWe did our best, we came out stronger than American Samoa. We also got better results in our second game against Tahiti than our first against Fiji, then today we won with four goals\u2026 It\u2019s a blessing for the team and our country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guerrero was asked how he felt after he scored two goals and said that he just came into the game to do his job as a striker and score goals. \u201cI really wanted to score one goal and fortunately, I scored another one as well, so I was really happy about that. I was happy because not only was it a personal achievement, but it was an achievement for our whole team\u2014and I\u2019m just glad I was able to contribute to the team like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The youngest player, 15-year-old Ngewakl, said his goal was \u201clucky\u201d as he had just come in to sub for Markus Toves. Brian Lubao passed the ball at the right moment and Ngewakl found an opening quickly to score the fourth goal just before the match ended.<\/p>\n

Ngewakl added that he was really surprised because he didn\u2019t know if he\u2019d play, let alone score a goal, but was happy when he ended up doing both.<\/p>\n

Head coach Michiteru Mita was all smiles after their win and said, \u201cI\u2019m very happy of our achievement\u2014on what the boys did today. They put so much dedication, hard work, sacrifice, and finally, the boys delivered a good result.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t concede a goal either, so defenders and goalkeeper concentrated in the game until the end, so we could manage the game,\u201d said Mita.<\/p>\n

He said they\u2019ll now shift their focus on the next game as the boys are still hungry for another win. \u201cWe will prepare as much as we could and we\u2019re going to have a great last game,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mita then gave a nod to the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association family and said, \u201cThank you for your continued support. Win or lose, you always support us. I want to congratulate all NMI soccer family for our achievement made by our soccer team.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also thanked NMIFA president Jerry Tan and NMIFA\u2019s executive committee members for their continued support of the men\u2019s and women\u2019s national teams. \u201cWe will keep working hard and keep striving to reach a higher level of play,\u201d said Mita.<\/p>\n

Coach Konomi Suzuki and player Zhi Xiang Lin couldn\u2019t make it to the match due to illness from the past couple days.<\/p>\n

Even without a podium placement this time around, NMI is in the Top 10. They need to beat Tuvalu on Thursday to place ninth.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The CNMI Men\u2019s National Soccer Team poses for a group photo before their match and 4-0 win against American Samoa yesterday morning at SIFF 2.<\/p>\n

-CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
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