CNMI bows to powerhouse Japan

 The CNMI U14 National Team crashed back to terra firma Saturday morning after powerhouse Japan gave it a virtual soccer clinic, beating them, 18-0, in the AFC U-14 Boys’ Festival of Football for East Asia in Beijing China.

After inspiring wins against Chinese-Taipei (2-0) and Macau (1-0) plus a draw against host China (1-1), the CNMI got a healthy dose of reality in Day 4 of the competition against what arguably is the cream of the crop of the AFC.

Team secretary/doctor Gary Ramsey said there’s no shame in losing to Japan, which national recruiting system is the model used by all of Asia.

“They’re able to take the best players from each prefecture and combine them to form a very talented team. And the CNMI was witness to this successful system,” he said in an email to the Saipan Tribune.

Also working against the CNMI was the new format consisting of two 30-minute periods that forced the islanders’ coaches to combine the “A” and “B” teams.

So, in addition to facing what obviously was the region’s best team, the CNMI also tried to accustom its mixed team to a new format on the fly.

From the get-go, the CNMI was unable to get their offense going and had trouble containing Japan’s rapid-fire offensive attacks.

Japan’s passing is unequaled by any team in this tournament and their shooting and speed are also second to none as shown by their previous games against Mongolia, 9-0 (in a 30-minute game) and Chinese Taipei, 6-0 (also in a 30-minute game).

While the CNMI was beaten 18-0 by a far more superior Japanese team, to its credit and despite the lopsided score, the Commonwealth players continued to play 100 percent throughout the match.

The CNMI also played against South Korea and Guam last Wednesday and only lost by a combined four points. The team took on Mongolia and North Korea late yesterday, but results were still not available as of press time.

Coaches game

As a treat participating teams and fans of the Football Festival were treated to a “Coaches Game” wherein the coaches from South Korea, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, and the Japanese head coach faced off against the CNMI, China, Guam, Mongolia, and Macau mentors.

Ramsey said although some of the coaches may be a few years out from their professional careers it didn’t show.

“Their skills were spot on giving the younger players something to aim for in the future. The players on the sidelines watching the game took the opportunity to give some grief to their coaches on the field such as, ‘Don’t dive,’ ‘C’mon coach, give 100 percent,’ and ‘Follow your mark,’” said the team official.

Last Friday, the CNMI U14 National Team had its day off and instead took part in a skills fair in the morning.

Every player on all 10 international teams participated in the skills fair. There were four stations set up testing various combinations of dribbling and shooting.

According to Ramsey, one station had the players making a short pass to a reflecting wall, regain control before making a turn and then shoot at the opposite wall.

A score was given by how many kicks you could get in a specified amount of time. Another had them dribbling around cones and shooting a goal from a normal distance. A more difficult test had the boys bouncing the ball on their knee and foot then making an accurate shot through cones. The most difficult test was the target that was set 10 meters away where the ball had to land inside in order to get any
points