Summary: The AFC Challenge Cup is a very important step for a number of nations in Asia seeking to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup, and joining for the second time on the show is Guam National Team Coach and Technical Director Gary White who is also joined by his second in command James Okuhama and team captain Jason Cunliffe who will speak to how the FIFA Goal Programme in tandem with some very hard work has begun to reshape the expectations for a nation not accustomed to see much success internationally. With a population of 200.000 fortunes for Guam would always come with long odds, but what Gary, his staff and players have begun to do is develop a new 10-year plan in concert with a national training centre that is considered state of the art for the region and with that arrives new expectations. Now that opportunity arrives barely months after some early success in the East Asian Football Federation Championship (EAFF), with bigger tests in store for the Matao against far-bigger and better resourced countries in the AFC Challenge Cup pits Guam against India, Chinese Taipei and host nation Myanmar. James provides a great deal of perspective on the progress the program has made in such a short time while Jason provides an insight into what effect the new procedures and plans have had on the players themselves. The Goal Programme enables member associations to implement projects designed to develop football in their countries and the effect of this investment has not only elevated the world ranking for Guam, but has also injected new energy and hope for a country that has historically been confronted with double digit losses since becoming a FIFA Member Association in 1996. Whether Guam advances or not from this round, fortunes and expectations are changing and the team clearly now has a newfound focus and long term strategy of becoming a very important player in the AFC landscape in the future. Guam is a remarkable football story in that it reveals the impact of the game worldwide, provides insight into how the smaller nations can lift themselves with just a bit of assistance and vision, and illustrates how organized and ambitious young football federations and a trained technical staff can deliver new energy where it once did not exist.
