Hualien FC eyes chemistry buildup in Saipan camp

Hualien Football Club’s women’s team players and coaches pose for a photo before having their training session at the Hopwood Middle School field yesterday. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Hualien Football Club’s women’s team is hoping to develop its chemistry when it plays friendly matches this weekend at the Hopwood Middle School Field.

Head coach Zhu Wen Bin, through interpreter Kaka, said there are a lot of new players on the team so the focus of their training camp here will be how to play as one cohesive unit. The visiting squad brought in 23 players for the camp with the youngest member ages 16 and the oldest at 34. Majority of them are in their early 20s and three are members of the Chinese-Taipei National Women’s Team.

“We’re looking at building up team chemistry so we decided to come here and play against CNMI squads. We would like to see how our team will work together and challenge your national teams,” said Bin.

Huelien will first face the CNMI Boys U18 National Team in a 4pm game today and then CNMI Women’s National Team this Sunday also at 4pm.

“We don’t know much about the CNMI national teams, so we don’t know how are we going to play them. We will see how the game goes and make the adjustments. The important thing here is for our players to get familiarize with each other’s game and come together,” the Hualien head coach added.

Kaka also said the training camp on Saipan will help the squad prepare for the league in Chinese-Taipei which will start in September.

Hualien player Lin Kai Ling, who asuits up for the Chinese-Taipei National Team too, said she is looking forward to the experience of playing against CNMI national squads and seeing what level the host teams are at.

“I am excited for these games and will do our very best,” said Lin, who used to see action in a league in Japan.

Meanwhile, CNMI Boys U18 National Team head coach Michiteru Mita is thankful for the presence of Hualien on Saipan as the friendly game will help the Teen Ayuyus’ preparations for the AFC U19 Championships Qualifiers.

“We have a very hard training since the boys had a summer holiday for almost two months. The boys are trying to level up their physical fitness and individual techniques for the AFC tournament in November and the training camp in Korea next month. This match is going to be a good test for us, to see how much the boys have improved during this summer,” Mita said.

“We are lucky to have the opportunity to play an international friendly before going to Korea. I appreciate Hualien players and coaches for visiting our islands and having a friendly game with the boys U18 and the women’s national teams. We have some off-island players, but we will still play with a strong team spirit and do our best to promote soccer on the islands,” the Teen Ayuyus coach added.