Guam U23 National Team to debut at AFC U23 Asian Cup qualifiers

[September 5, 2023 – Harmon, Guam] Guam’s U23 National Team will make its first-ever appearance at an AFC tournament when the team takes on Vietnam Wednesday on Match Day 1 of the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ Qualifiers in Hanoi, Vietnam.

“The benefit of competing at the U23 level is more competitive matches for our national team players,” said Dominic Gadia, Guam U23 National Team Head Coach. “We do not compete often enough outside of our local competitions to continually develop elite players for the senior national team; there has been a big gap in our player pathway between our U20 program and the senior team. This equates to an unstable period of years where our older youth players are already struggling to continue with football beyond their high school careers. The hope is that this becomes a permanent program for both our men’s and women’s sides.”

Gadia called up 23 players for Guam’s maiden appearance at the continental tournament. Called up are goalkeepers John-Michael Guidroz, Josiah Jones, and Jacob Toves, and field players Gavin Baker, Levi Buckwalter, Michael Castaneda, Jason Castro, Caleb Elwell, James Gomez, Curtis Harmon, Micah Hennegan, Riku Meyar, Leon Morimoto, Nainoa Norton, Kai Pahl, Eduardo Pedemonte, Jr., Anthony Quidachay, Jr., Oz Rocca, C.J. Sablan, E.J. Sablan, Samuel Stenson, Shuntaro Suzuki, and Quincy Walker.

Guam is one of 18 teams in Asia making its debut at the AFC U23 Asian Cup, according to the AFC Web site. For this edition, Guam was drawn into Group C with Vietnam, Singapore, and Yemen. Vietnam is the two-time defending champions of the AFF U23 Championship. Gadia and his coaching staff have been monitoring the group’s teams following the draw in May this year.

“We know that Vietnam has one of the best U23 programs in Asia and they are seeing the by-products of their huge investment in youth football development over the last couple of years,” Gadia said. “They’ve got some of the best coaches in the region and all their investments are why they remain the AFF U23 champions. Singapore also has invested wisely in their U23 program. After their recent SEA Games campaign, they had a review board identify what was needed to be done to improve their team’s performance. They were in Thailand for three friendly matches leading up to the AFC tournament. Yemen, a team we were drawn with last year in the AFC U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers, has some great players in their squads who I anticipate will again be a part of their 23s setup. They are definitely not a team to overlook in the group.”

Guam will open its bid Sept. 6 against Vietnam at 7 p.m. local time (10 p.m. Guam time) at the Viet Tri Stadium, followed by a match against Singapore at 4 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Guam time) on Sept. 9. Guam will play against Yemen in its final match of the group Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. local time (7 p.m. Guam time).

Live stream links, when available, will be announced on Guam Football Association’s social media platforms.