A country ranked 174 in the world, with a population of 165,000
and coached by a former Bognor Regis player has beaten India in qualifying for
the World Cup.
Guam, defeated 16-0 and 19-0 during the 2002
tournament qualifying, recorded their first ever qualifier win with victory
over Turkmenistan last week.
And now the Asian team, managed by Gary White,
has beaten a country with a population of 1.25 billion 2-1 at home.
Guam sit top of Group D in round two of Asian
2018 World Cup qualification.
If Guam progress from this round of qualifying
they play in an additional round, which sees 12 teams split into two groups of
six.
The top two teams from each group will qualify
for the World Cup. The two third-place teams will play home-and-away over two
legs. The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.
White, 40, was
previously coach of the British Virgin Islands and Bahamas national team. He is
one of 16 coaches on a Football Association scheme created to boost the number
of English coaches in the Premier League.
He recently told Fifa.com: "Our
final outcome that we want is to put Guam football on the map, and I think
that's happening already.
"And for the team to continue to develop.
The prize, if you like, is to get to the World Cup, the Asian Cup, but we'll
take each game at a time. It is a special time right now, I don't want to put
an end on it. Can we qualify for the World Cup? We know it's going to be a
tough road."
No comments:
Post a Comment