The Macao women’s football team lost 6-0 against Guam on Saturday in the second preliminary match of the East Asian Football Federation’s Women’s Football Championship.
The defeat, was followed by an extraordinary 16-0 loss against Chinese Taipei on Thursday. Macao has one more game left to be played on 6 December against Group B’s third-placed team.
Guam kicked off the match, held at the Suoka sports centre in Zhuhai. While Macao started better than it did against Chinese Taipei, it again looked quickly outclassed – not having played a game since 2019 owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Guam had a couple of shots on goal in the first 20 minutes and took the lead in the 35th. A good corner from Kaia Malakooti found midfielder Jenae Perez, who headed the ball towards goal, and forced a save from Macao’s Oriana Wong. The keeper failed to grab hold of the ball, however, and a second attempt from Perez saw the ball in the back of the net.
Guam gained momentum from that point and scored another goal in the 40th minute. A beautiful, left-footed strike from Rebecca Bartosh to the top corner gave the Macao keeper no chance for a save. The Pacific islanders led 2-0 at half-time.
[See more: What’s next for football in Macao?]
Macao remained under sustained pressure from the start of the second half. Guam scored a third goal after a strike from defender Malakooti in the 53rd minute. Another goal, by forward Mariah Anaya, followed in the 66th minute as Guam’s attackers left Macao scrambling. Bartosh grabbed her second goal of the game just four minutes later.
Guam’s Inyssa Perez – who was substituted on the pitch in the 73rd minute – delivered the coup de grace with the sixth goal.
Before the match, Macao goalkeeper Wong told Macao News “We are grateful for everyone’s support in our first games in four years and attention towards women’s football. There are many experiences to take away and learn from these games.”
[See more: Macao’s women’s football team loses its EAFF match against Chinese Taipei 16-0]
Meanwhile, Macao’s neighbouring SAR, Hong Kong, saw its women’s football team go down to a dismal 0-11 loss against DPR Korea in its first game on Thursday. However, Hong Kong won 6-1 against the Northern Mariana Islands yesterday and have a game in hand. They will face Mongolia on 4 December in Zhuhai.
The current leader from Group A is DPR Korea, pipping the Northern Mariana Islands to the number one spot on goal difference. The Group B leader is Chinese Taipei, which also leads Guam by goal difference.
The winners of Groups A and B will face off in the finals of the Women’s EAFF preliminary competition on 7 December at the Macau Olympic Stadium.
