Guam U23 team participated in the U23 Asian qualifiers for the first time. They were in the same group with U23 Vietnam, U23 Yemen and U23 Singapore. Coach Dominic Gadia and his team were considered the weakest in the group.
They brought 23 players to Vietnam, of which only 12 are playing for professional football clubs. These players play domestically for three teams: Wings FC, Islanders FC and Bank of Guam Stryker. Guam's national championship has only 6 teams and has just been held again after many years of interruption due to the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the remaining 11 players are students and semi-professional players. Most of them are training and competing at American universities.
The most notable name of U23 Guam is midfielder wearing the number 9 shirt, Gavin Baker. This 16-year-old player is trained at the Barca Residency Academy. This is a cooperative football facility of FC Barcelona in the United States.
The U23 Guam squad brought to Vietnam is very young and lacks international experience. (Photo: GFA)
In general, the quality of U23 Guam players is difficult to compare with U23 Vietnam players or other teams in the same group.
Guam U23 team rarely participates in international tournaments. Meanwhile, the national team of this country is present in all tournaments in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) system. However, they have not had any impressive achievements, all of which were eliminated early.
Guam is ranked 203rd in the FIFA rankings, which means they are 6th from the bottom. They are considered one of the weakest football nations in the world.
To prepare for the U23 Asian qualifiers, U23 Guam had many training sessions starting from June 2023. In mid-August, U23 Guam participated in a tournament called the Marianas Cup with U23 Northern Mariana Islands - a football country not yet recognized as a FIFA member. After two home and away matches, they lost 1-3 on aggregate.
The team just regrouped a few days ago before going to Vietnam. Entering the U23 Asian qualifiers, coach Dominic Gadia does not focus on results. " I want to create a foundation for the national team and aim to achieve results after each match ," he said.
Van Hai
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