Unsa Tanapon of the NMI Men's U23 National Soccer Team celebrates with his teammates after scoring the third goal against Guam in second game of the Marianas Football Cup on Saturday at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
The NMI's Cody Shimizu clashes with a Guam player during a header attempt in a Marianas Football Cup game Saturday at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
THE NMI U23 National Soccer Team lost to Guam on Thursday 0-1, but came back stronger on Saturday to win the second game, 3-0, and the 2023 Marianas Football Cup at the NMI Soccer Training Center in Koblerville.
In game 2, Guam controlled most of the possession during the first 10 minutes of the opening half as they were superior when it came to one-on-one action.
But the NMI started to take over the tempo with a handful of attempted shots led by Sunjoon Tenorio. Guam continued to apply defensive pressure, but the NMI managed to slip through the cracks every single time, creating shot opportunities.
The NMI's efforts were soon rewarded with Tenorio connecting the first goal of the match at the 28th minute mark to give the home team the lead, 1-0.
After the halftime break, the NMI returned to the football pitch with more confidence.
Guam defended well, but at the 63rd minute mark, the NMI was handed another opportunity via a free kick from Markus Toves that slipped past Guam's goalie to extend the NMI’s lead, 2-0.
Throughout the remainder of the match, Guam had several chances to catch up but were frustrated by the NMI's tight defense which included the efforts of goalkeeper Merrick Toves who had several saves.
After hitting the 90-minute threshold, another five minutes of play was announced, enough time for Guam to score.
However, they continued to struggle to find an open shot and ended up committing a costly foul that handed Tanapon Unsa a free kick.
Unsa went for the slick approach, slicing through the left side of the goal and slipping through to the back of the net to stretch the NMI’s lead, 3-0, and secure the coveted title.
Lesson learned
The NMI Men learned from their loss to Guam on Thursday.
In that game, Guam completely smothered the NMI with constant pressure on both ends. After 25 minutes of play, the Guam broke through with Curtis Harmon connecting the shot for a 1-0 lead.
During the second half, the NMI started to find their rhythm, but it was a bit too late as Guam focused on protecting their end.
Midfielder and the captain of the NMI U23 National Soccer Team, Jireh Yobech, said: “It's tough because we knew nothing about the Guam team other than that they are young with a sprinkle of international-level players — we didn’t want to take them for granted.”
After losing to Guam on Thursday, the NMI team decided to focus on areas where they lost control of the possession and make the necessary adjustments in the second match.
“It was hard for me to hold back tears, to be honest,” Yobech said. “I'm the oldest on this team by some margin but seeing this team's joy and the fight that they went through, it is amazing,” Yobech added.
He noted that the NMI also had the home advantage, which further boosted the team's momentum. “The opportunity was here — to make the fans proud. And that's what we did today,” he said.
NMI goalie Merrick Toves, who had played in a previous Marianas Cup tournament, is glad to bring the trophy back home.
“Our defense was very strong,” he said. “We worked hard and trained for this.”
For Yobech and Toves, the extra time added in the second half of the second game was one of the most crucial moments of the match.
Fortunately, their motivation kept the fire burning. “My biggest motivation was trying to win against Guam and become MVP,” said Toves.
“Another source of motivation for us was our key players falling to injury. They were humble and knew it was bigger than just any individual,” Yobech said.
This year’s event marked the return of the Marianas Cup for men, which was not held from 2020 to 2022 due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
Marianas Cup (men) record
Year Level Winner
2007 A Guam
2008 A Guam
2009 A Guam
2010 A shared
2013 mixed Quality Distributors (Guam)
2013 U12 Northern Marianas
2017 U18 Guam
2018 U17 Guam
2019 U23 Guam
