The Guam women's football team got their moment in the spotlight as they finished top in the East Asian Cup first preliminary round.
The Masakada thrashed the Northern Mariana Islands 5-0 in front of their home supporters on Sunday in Dededo, having thumped Macau by the same scoreline last week.
The Guam men's and women's teams will both compete in the second round in Taiwan in November.
Guam take on Macau during the East Asian Cup. Photo: Facebook / Guam Football Association
Newly appointed head coach Mark Chargualaf said the East Asian Cup is an important hit out for the national team.
"It's a good thing for us every two years so we get a good set of matches, for the women especially. Two years ago they qualified as well - went to the second round. That was a lot of the ladies' first time being in the second round so now that they got that out of the way I think going into this next round this year our association will be more organised in how to get the girls best prepared for round two," he said.
"Especially for the women they don't have too many tournaments so having this every two years is good for them to get them going, to get some games for them."
Guam women's football coach Mark Chargualaf. Photo: Facebook / Guam Football Association
The men's programme in Guam has received a lot of attention for a string of impressive performances in World Cup qualifying, with the Matao well-placed to qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup.
Mark Chargualaf is an assistant coach with the Matao squad but said the women's game is also in good health and deserved praise.
"There's a lot of things going on here, especially for the women. There's new programmes like the mothers league, there's a recreational league - in the past year or so there's been a movement towards getting more females involved in the sport, even just to get active. This tournament shows the ladies in the other league what the highest level should look like, this is the international competition. We got good support - they deserved it, they deserved the spotlight."
The Masakada players celebrate with the East Asian Cup trophy. Photo: Facebook / Guam Football Association
