CNMI strikers all set for AFC tourney

 A 20-player CNMI Girls U13 Team is heading to China tomorrow to compete in the AFC U13 Girls Football Tournament.

The team is composed of Carla Mae Ballesteros, Guinevere Borja, Maile Aldrich, Britany Wally, Mary Kay Alferos, Patricia Santiago, Jesreelyn Bulaklak, Angelica and Lyka Sally, Bernadette Horey, Angelina Villagomez, Diana Maniacop, Samantha Manacop, Jasmine Phan, De’Jana Muna, Yna Poquiz, Renita Fleming, Chevy Alipio, Krizel Tuazon, and Chloe Salvosa. Players were selected from the various teams competing in Northern Mariana Islands Football Association’s U12 and U15 leagues.

Joining the squad are coach Jimmy Tan, his assistant, Patricia Coleman of Paire Footbal Club, physiotherapist Pamela Ann Carhill, delegation head Joseph Kevin Villagomez, and team manager and NMIFA general secretary Ed Salas.

“We had our final meeting this afternoon [yesterday] and the girls are all set and very excited to compete in China for the first time. They know what is expected from them-to play their best in every game and represent the CNMI well on and off the pitch,” Salas said.

“They have been training for several months and this weekend is the time to put into play what they have learned during their practice sessions,” the NMIFA official added.

The AFC competition will be held at the Jiangning Football Training Centre in Nanjing, China, from June 9 to 14 with the CNMI youth strikers competing against teams from host China, Chinese-Taipei, North Korea, South Korea, and Japan. The Commonwealth and five other nations are in Group B (east) of the three-group tournament.

“We are in a tough draw with Japan and the two Koreas joining our group, but everybody is ready to play their game and see what happens next,” Salas said.

Group A is for central, south, and west member-countries, while Group C is named the ASEAN bracket. The CNMI’s neighbor-Guam-is in Group C with Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, while Group A is composed of Bhutan, Iran, India, Jordan, Palestine, and Sri Lanka.

The U13 event in Nanjing is one of the series of AFC tournaments the CNMI will be competing in from 2012 to 2013. The Commonwealth youth strikers are also invited to qualifying events for the AFC U16 Girls Championship 2013, AFC U16 Boys Championship 2014, and the EAFF U15 Boys Youth Tournament. In April this year, the CNMI also joined the AFC U14 Boys Festival of Football in Beijing, China.