Guam produced another stunning result on Tuesday as the tiny Pacific island side beat India 2-1 to move to the top of their 2018 World Cup qualifying group
Sunil Chhetri
Singapore: Guam produced another stunning result on Tuesday as the tiny Pacific island side beat India 2-1 to move to the top of their 2018 World Cup qualifying group.
ADVERTISEMENT
Looking to build on their 1-0 win over Turkmenistan last Thursday, the Matao took the game to their visitors who are currently 141st on the FIFA World Ranking, 33 spots ahead of them. They took the lead at the GFA National Training Center after 38 minutes when Brandon McDonald headed in Ryan Guy's long throw-in and Travis Nicklaw extended the advantage in the 62nd minute when he received a long pass from his elder brother Shawn and fired home on the turn.
Sunil Chhetri
Sunil Chhetri got a consolation goal for India with the last kick of the game but it did little to take the shine off another remarkable result for Guam, who moved to the top of Group D with six points from two games.
With Oman -- who beat India 2-1 last week -- not in action and Iran playing their first group game in Turkmenistan later on Tuesday, Guam are assured of remaining at the summit of their group in the second round of Asian qualifying until the next round of games in September.
Guam, a United States island territory in the Western Pacific with a population of less than 200,000, are competing in the World Cup qualifiers for the first time since 2000 when they were beaten 19-0 by Iran and 16-0 by Tajikistan. A total of 15 matches are being played throughout Asia on Tuesday in matches that serve as qualifiers for both the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.