The fairy tale match for the Matao, Guam
men’s national soccer team, could have had a happier ending for the
island.
In 90 full minutes plus a total of
three injury-time minutes, the Matao held down its higher-ranked
opponents, the Azkals, to three goals, but was unable to capitalize
on various scoring opportunities conceding the win to the Philippines
in front of thousands of screaming fans at the Panaad Stadium in
Bacolod City.
“We’re a bit disappointed with the
result, but I’m absolutely proud of our boys for battling it out in
the second half to a 0-0 draw,” said Matao captain Jason Cunliffe
in a post-match interview. “We had them on their back foot for a
good majority of that half. Overall, it was a great game and I’m
proud of our boys for battling to the end.”
The Azkals took advantage of gaps in
the Matao defense, with a goal by Angel Guirado in the seventh minute
of play. Carlos Alberto Martinez de Murga earned his first-ever goal
for the Azkals in the 14th minute to give his team a 2-0
advantage. The Azkals wouldn’t strike again until the extra minute
of injury time in the first half with Guirado breaking free from the
Matao defense after an Azkals’ free kick to score off an
uncontested header that managed to find the back of the net.
“We knew the first 15 minutes would
be difficult,” said Matao head coach Gary White. “We had some bad
marking which we really fixed at half time.
“The idea was to come here to expand
and grow as a team. I think that this game has done a lot for our
team’s development,” added White, who had taken the head coach
position for Guam in February of this year.
Key saves by Matao goalkeeper Dallas
Jaye, including cradling the ball outside of the goal box with the
Azkals’ Jason De Jong at full sprint, helped shut down the Azkals
in the second half. Defensive substitutions Christian Schweizer and
Scott Leon Guerrero assisted greatly in limiting shots on goal by the
Philippine side.
“If the fourth goal was coming early,
I think it will be a higher score (than 3-0), said Michael Weiss, the
Azkals’ head coach, in a post-match interview. “But, we should be
satisfied. We dominated the match very clearly and we had many, many
goal scoring opportunities. I told the players ahead of the game I
heard that winning less than 3-0 is disappointing. I find that
disrespectful. We had the 3-0, but you saw here we had more chances.
We could have won 5-0, but we had a satisfying result.
“We shouldn’t think that the trees
are growing into the heavens – we should go step-by-step. We still
have a lot to work on in order to be a more competitive team. If I
compare, the last time I was sitting here was my first match against
Mongolia and it was on the 15th of January 2011, almost
one-and-a-half years ago. We’ve made fantastic, tremendous
improvement. I’m very proud of the team. I think this team has even
much more potential,” he added.
Despite the loss, the Matao made its
way around the track surrounding the field to thank all the fans in
the stands for their support, including a group of supporters from
Guam. The Philippines team followed shortly after with their small
parade around the stadium.
The Matao has two more games during its
excursion in the Philippines. The team plays Global FC Thursday at 7
p.m. in the Rizal Stadium in Manila. The team will once again face
Guirado and Martinez de Murga, scorers for the Azkals, as both
Spanish players play for second-ranked Global FC in the Philippines’
United Football League. Sunday’s 7 p.m. match, also at Rizal
Stadium, will pit the Matao against the Stallion Gilligan’s,
another first division team in the UFL. The Stallion FC roster
includes a handful of Korean players.
GUAM FA press release
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