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A country with huge influences from the USA, Guam is more into American football and baseball. Its population of 160,000 does not offer a huge base for grassroots development and since its affiliation with FIFA 1996, Guam has yet to win an international match at the national A-team level. Football in Guam remains an amateur sport.
Without a professional league for the players, the team's lack of practice and experience is evident each time they take on an opposition. Minnows in the extreme, Guam made international headlines when they lost to Asian powers Iran 19-0 in a qualifying preliminary for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan?-- a record until later in the tournament when Australia beat Tonga and American Samoa in the Oceanian Zone by 22 and 31 goals respectively. For good measure the Guamanians also lost to Tajikistan 16-0.
They again went without a victory at the 2003 East Asian Championships, losing their four matches against Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Macao by a combined score of 0-22. A 6-0 loss to Bhutan and a 5-0 loss to Mongolia followed in qualifying for the 2004 Asian Cup.
Currently, Guam has decided to 'forget' about its national 'A' team and instead focus on youth development. The strategy seems to be paying off. At the AFC under 14 Festival of Football, Guam recorded its first international match victory of any men’s category when they beat Mongolia 3-1. If the younger players continue to make steady progress, Guam may well be the team to watch out for in the coming years.
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