21 Nov 2015

Sport: Guam football coach proud of team

10:32 am on 21 November 2015

Guam football coach Gary White says, despite being eliminated from World Cup qualifying, his team has exceeded all expectations and put them on the international map.

The Matao were outclassed 6-0 by Iran on Tuesday, in the second round of Asian qualifying, and are seven points behind the Group D leaders with just one game remaining.

Guam were beaten 6-0 by Iran both home and away during Football World Cup qualifying.

Guam were beaten 6-0 by Iran both home and away during Football World Cup qualifying. Photo: AFP

Gary White says Guam came in as complete outsiders and to reach the final stage of Asian Cup qualifying is an amazing feat for a team with such small resources and population.

"We played Turkmenistan, we played India, we played Oman and the only team that's scored more than a one-goal difference against us is Iran and we're very proud of that, which shows that we're competitive in that mid-tier for sure now in Asia, but we've still got a way to go to think about competing with the likes of Iran, Japan and Korea at the top level but it was another good lesson for us."

Guam's final World Cup qualifying match is away to Oman in March and Gary White says they're hoping to arrange a friendly international in Europe as part of their preparation.

Guam football coach Gary White.

Guam football coach Gary White. Photo: Guam Football Association