CNMI All-Stars to compete in HK football tourney

A selection of CNMI female players left Saipan yesterday to participate in the Chelsea FC Soccer School Hong Kong Invitational Competition 2014 this weekend.

Dubbed as the CNMI All-Stars, the team is composed of 18 players and has Northern Mariana Islands Football Association technical director Johann Noetzel as manager, while Chelsea FC Soccer School (Hong Kong) technical director and former Olympian Luam Khen Koo will coach the selection.

The team is composed of the core of the CNMI Women’s National Team that is preparing for an East Asian Football Federation-sanctioned competition in Guam in July this year. Goalkeeper Jhaneeka Atalig leads the selection and is joined by Melody Johnson, Dianne Pablo, Angie Ito, Mikky Vargas, Jeraldine and Jeralyn Castillo, Gabrielle Race, Alexa Vergara, Elaine Vergara, Michelle and Rachel Masga, Thea Minor, Renita Fleming, Chloe Salvosa, Elizabeth Phan, and Irish Pagarao.

The CNMI players will be challenging several teams in Hong Kong and Noetzel is hoping the Commonwealth bets will show consistency for 90 minutes of every game and stand their ground against Hong Kong teams.

“It will be their first match in a while and we expect them to play some quality football and go out there and do what they have been practicing for the past few months,” Noetzel said.

Ito, who is one of the five midfielders on the team, said the Hong Kong tournament will warm the girls up for the EAFF and make up for the two friendly games they were scheduled to play against Guam.

“We were supposed to play Guam in last year’s Marianas Cup, but that match did not materialize and the friendly game early this year was also cancelled. Then a few months ago, we got an invite to play in Hong Kong and that somehow gave the girls the motivation to train and have a feel of actual games that would prepare them for the EAFF tournament,” Ito said.

She added that several players from the selection have shown significant improvement and gained experience from previous off-island tournaments in the last two years.
The CNMI All-Stars players and manager Johann Noetzel, standing fifth left, pose for a group photo at the departure area of the Francisco C. Ada-Saipan International Airport before leaving the island yesterday to compete in the Chelsea FC Soccer School Hong Kong Invitational Competition 2014.
(ROSELYN B. MONROYO)[/caption3
“We have better players now. They know what they are up to and have improved their chemistry on and off the pitch,” Ito said.