Favorite Trip

       

My Favourite Trip Is...

 I have been on many trips throughout my life so far. I have been to places like Guam, Rota, Taipei, Nepal, Japan, California, Indiana, etc.  Some of those trips were with friends, some were with teammates, and some on my own. The one trip that stands out to me though, has got to be my trip to Chinese Taipei. I had gone to Chinese Taipei when I was 13 years old for a soccer trip with the CNMI u15 national team in 2011. We had done a whole bunch of training leading up to the tournament and we came in ready. We were definitely not the favourites in the tournament, but we were there to make a statement to all of the other powerhouse countries. The other competitors there were the host Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, North Korea, Guam, and Macau. North Korea were the defending champions so they were obviously the team to watch for this tournament. 

          Before the tournament had begun, we had a 3 day stay over in Japan. During the 3 day stay, we challenged 2 professional youth teams, one which I train with whenever I go to Japan in vacation: Yokohama FC and FC Chiba. They were fantastic teams. They were all disciplined and had great soccer experience. The players that play for those professional youth clubs are selected through a vigorous try out or hand selected all across Japan by the coach himself. Ofcourse us island boys were no match to them, but we tried to do our best. The score line was quite a soccer score line at the end of the game however. This wasn't because we sucked, but our keeper had lost hope in his own team. The keeper only has one job and it is to block everyones shot on goal with whatever they can. Our keeper stopped doing his job during the first half. This brought the whole team down because of the constant goals being scored on us. I don't usually blame any single player in a loss because I believe it is the whole team's fault if they lose, but in this case... Damn. No offence to the keeper, but he shouldn't have been selected to go on the trip with that kind of selfish attitude. During our stay in Japan, we had watched 2 professional J league matches and they were both very exciting. It was even more exciting because we can watch quality football with your best buds. After the last match, we had gotten a good nights sleep and were off to Taipei. 

           In Taipei, all of the teams stay in the same hotel. Before the tournament, all of the teams players have to act tough to try to intimidate the other teams. This happens in every tournament I've been on so far and it is actually quite funny to witness. Anyways, first game coming soon everyone was very nervous. The first game was against Taipei and we were thinking to come out with a 3-0 victory. Unfortunately this hadn't happened. In our next couple of games, we continued to progress with success in each match. We played harder and hungrier in the next matches. During the second to last game against Guam, we had actually scored a goal. The first goal ever in CNMI youth history. However the ref had called it offsides. Our hearts broke then. There was no way that it could've been offsides too. I had beaten the Guam's captain defender and crossed the ball into the box to my teammate and then he placed the ball in the net. Our coach was so excited, he was already halfway on the field before the ref could even call it offsides. Anyways, we ended up losing the match, but the refs definitely took a toll on us. Plus, our keepers fault caused 2 goals to go in. The match should've ended 1-1 but it had to end at a 3-0 loss for us. 

          Our last game was against Macau. This is where the fun began for us and this is the main reason why this is my favourite trip that I've been apart of. We had gone into the match overly confident and were keen on winning the game. The first few minutes we played great defence not allowing any goals for Macau, but then they got a shot past our keeper... I could see the faces on my teammates and it was a weird mixture. They had the face of defeat already, but won't quit until the end. The very next play, we kicked off the ball, dropped it to our center-mid who was Andrew Johnson, and he played a dime to our right winger Jireh Yobech. He held the ball and beat his defender down the flanks and then crossed the ball into the box where I was unmarked. I headed the ball into the back of the net and sprinted all the way back to my coaches and teammates with a huge smile. During the second half we had scored another goal and it was credited to me, but I'm pretty sure Jireh had touched the ball last. Doesn't matter because we had won our first ever match for the CNMI. Celebrations had already been started and we placed CNMI on the football map. THAT is why this is my favourite trip that I've been a part of so far.