Bhutan will host Guam at the Changlimithang National Stadium tomorrow for the 2022 FIFA World Cup preliminary qualifiers Round 1. Ranked 193rd, against Bhutan’s 186th, in the FIFA world ranking, Guam is an island in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean that is part of the United States.
At the pre-match press conference today, both the sides looked confident of making it through to the next round of the qualifiers. Representatives from both the team shared their excitement for the big game tomorrow.
“It should be a very good game and I am very excited. We are looking forward to the game as we have been training and preparing for this for a very long time. For a smaller nation like us, we don’t get to play a lot of games on a regular basis. So we are all excited,” said Karl Dodd, the Coach for Guam.
“The preparations have been going very well and for this year we have a very young squad with many players of 21 to 22 years of age. And it is has been a very long time since we had our last home game so everyone is looking forward to it. All the players are fit and mentally prepared. They are all looking forward to tomorrow’s game,” Karma Shedrup Tshering, the skipper for Bhutan said.
After his recent appointment, coach Pema will officially feature in as the new head coach for the Bhutanese side. Talking to BBS, he said various players have been called up for the international duty based on their performance in the recent competition.
“We have called back few previous national players who were not selected in the last campaign. It was done based upon their recent improved performance in various competitions. Including them, we have roughly about 14 new players in the current squad,” Pema, the Coach for Bhutan, said.
Bhutan first played the Guamanian side in 2003. Back then, Bhutan had thrashed Guam by six goals to nil. Following the first leg, dragon boys will travel to Guam for the second leg on 11th of this month. The winner of the two-legged competition will qualify for the second round scheduled to be played in September this year.
