CNMI U15 strikers off to Taipei

The CNMI will compete anew in the East Asian Football Federation U15 Youth Tournament and will be sending an 18-player team to Taipei, Taiwan.

The CNMI U15 Team is composed of Jordan Butcher, Enrico del Rosario, Ethan Dickinson, Kenneth Domingo, Gregzon Fontanilla, Joel and Mason Fruit, Dakota Hall, William Hinson II, Kennedy Izuka, Hunter Jewell, Andrew Johnson, Angelo Jones, Jehn Joyner, Jake Lee, Sean Perez, John Taisacan, and Jirech Yobech. Joining them in Taiwan are Northern Mariana Islands Football Association general secretary Ed Salas, who will serve as NMIFA head official and team manager, assistant coach Jersh Angeles, and NMIFA officials Kentaro Imaya and Carrie Schuler.

The 18 selected players came from the various football clubs that are playing in NMIFA’s youth league and eight of them participated in the same tournament in Guam last year.

The CNMI U15 strikers lost all their four games in Guam last year and failed to score a single goal in their EAFF debut. This year, Angeles is expecting a much-improved squad.

“Now, our players have matured. Their skills and their physical and their mental toughness also improved. We are playing against very strong teams so we focus more on defense, but this time I believe we have a very good chance in scoring, too,” Angeles said.

“We are working more on stamina, ball control, and discipline. I told the players when they come to practices and scrimmages they should 100 percent, if not they can go home,” the assistant mentor added. “The team is training five days a week, twice a day. They are also playing against older players twice a week.”

Salas agreed with Angeles’ observation, saying the exposure in the tournament in Guam challenged the CNMI youth strikers to work harder on their game.

“Ten of the 18 players we are sending to Taipei are returning members of the 2010 U15 National Team, so we have a little experience, but our team is still a young one. We hope to have better results this year, but it will be very tough as all of the teams we will face are very skilled,” Salas said.

The EAFF youth tournament will run from July 18 to 24 and the CNMI will meet first the host on July 20 at the Taipei Municipal Stadium. Korea, Hong Kong, Guam, and Macau are also entered in the week-long competition.

The Commonwealth strikers’ next game will be against Hong Kong on July 21, then versus defending champion Korea (July 22), Guam (July 23), and Macau (July 24). The The Top 2 teams after the round-robin contest will duel in the finals. Last year, Korea beat Hong Kong in the championship game, 3-2.