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25 make first cut for CNMI U12 team
Northern Mariana Islands Football Association has named the 25 players on the CNMI training pool that is preparing for next month’s East Asian Football Federation Boys U13 Festival 2015.
Youth players take part in drills during the first week of tryouts for the CNMI U13 National Team that will compete in the East Asian Football Federation Boys U13 Festival 2015 in Guam next month. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
The list includes Tan Holdings Football Club’s Mark Esalan, Thaipi Austria, John Michael Roxas, Angelo Bergancia, Floyd Muna, siblings Taka and Ichiro Borja, and Kirro Batino; Kanoa FC’s Kirt Andon, Angelo Ada, Sebastien Manabat, Ian Maniago, and Jhoey Noble; Matansa FC’s Lolo Benito, Reginald Pascual, Glenn Basillo, Justin Achas, and Raseff Altamirano; MP United FC’s Eunsyn Hahn, Jon Villagomez, Jason Quiamzon, and David Meyers Jr; and Paire FC’s Kaden Church and Blake Mister. Edward Joon Cho, who is based in Guam and plays for Wings FC, completes the list.
Of the 25, only 18 will make the final cut for the CNMI U13 National Team that will compete in the EAFF-sanctioned tournament scheduled from Nov. 7 to 11 in Guam.
The initial list was released after nearly 50 players underwent a series of tryouts that took place for more than a week at the Oleai Sports Complex Field and the pitch at the Koblerville Elementary School. Chelsea FC Soccer School Hong Kong technical director Luam Khen Koo, along with club coaches Irish Pagarao and Angie Ito, facilitated the first three sessions of the tryouts before NMIFA technical director Kiyoshi Sekiguchi took over the remaining days and made the final cut last Friday.
Majority of those selected to the initial list were part of the CNMI U14 National Team that participated in the AFC U14 Regional Festival of Football in Beijing, China last month so experience will be on the Teen Ayuyus’ side when they compete in Guam this November.
In the EAFF event, the CNMI players will be up against teams from Chinese-Taipei, North Korea, Macau, Hong Kong, Mongolia, and host Guam.
The tournament in Guam will be the Commonwealth players’ last off-island event for this year. NMIFA had earlier sent the CNMI U14 Girls National Team to Beijing for the AFC U14 Girls Regional Championships (East) 2015 in May, the CNMI Women’s All-Stars to Hong Kong in July for the 2015 Luen Thai Cup, and the CNMI U16 National Team to Laos last month for the AFC U16 Championship India 2016 Qualifiers, and the CNMI U19 National Team to Thailand for the FC U19 Championship Bahrain 2016 Qualifiers.
