The 2018 Micronesian Games recently took place on the island of Yap, in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and featured a relatively small yet very diverse number of sports, from spearfishing and Va'a canoeing to wrestling, athletics and football. Ten entities took part in the Games, which were held between 15-27 July: Yap, Pohnpei, Chuuk, Kosrae (all constituent parts of the FSM), Nauru, Kiribati, Northern Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Guam and Palau.
Four teams competed in the football tournament, which took place between 23-26 July: Chuuk, Pohnpei, hosts Yap (all from the FSM), and Palau. The tournament was held at the Matson Yap Sports Complex in Gigil, some seven miles from the island capital, Colonia.
Both Kiribati and Nauru were slated to take part in the competition, but both withdrew from the tournament, apparently for financial reasons. For the Kiribati side, it was the second time in five months that they had done so: they were due to take part in the CONIFA Football World Cup, which was held in London from 31 May-9 June, but also scratched from that tournament.
Nauru went so far as to withdraw their entire team from the Games, although one athlete, Jonah Harris, decided to represent his island without any financial support and came away with five medals, a wonderful achievement in any circumstances.
The first match of the football tournament was a re-run of the 2014 final, when Pohnpei defeated Palau 3:1, and Pohnpei came out on top this time, too, by 2 goals to 1. Yap finished third in the group stage four years ago, but finished fourth and last after losing the third-place play-off to Chuuk. They got their revenge on home turf, winning 4:2 in what was the game with the highest number of goals in the tournement.
Chuuk defeated Palau 1:0 in a game which was the lowest-scoring of the tournament - and which was originally incorrectly reported by officials as a 1:0 victory for the Palauans, much to the consternation of some. (Mistakes can happen, though, so folk should not be too critical of the volunteer staff on duty at the games; we have all been there.) Next up came two draws for Pohnpei, which confirmed their progress to the final on goal-difference ahead of Chuuk. Yap joined them after defeating Palau in the final group-stage game.
Palau defeated Chuuk 2:0 in the third-place play-off, immediately before Pohnpei defeated the hosts in the final by the odd goal in five to secure their second Micronesian Games title. Unfortunately, the Pohnpeian side will not be able to defend their title at the next Micronesian Games, which are scheduled to be held in the Marshall Islands in 2022. A spokesperson for the Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee told Pat's Football Blog that football is not on the list of sports for the Games, due to there being no suitable facilities on the main island, Majuro.
RESULTS - GROUP STAGE
23/07/18 Pohnpei 2:1 Palau
23/07/18 Yap 4:2 Chuuk
24/07/18 Chuuk 1:0 Palau
24/07/18 Pohnpei 2:2 Yap
25/07/18 Chuuk 1:1 Pohnpei
25/07/18 Yap 2:1 Palau
THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF
26/07/18 Palau 2:0 Chuuk
FINAL
26/07/18 Yap 2:3 Pohnpei
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to the staff of the Micronesian Games for their help with this article, to Roon Ba for their assistance with one or two of the results, and to the spokesperson for the Marshall Islands NOC for their help. Facebook and the Marshall Islands Journal were also perused.
Apologies for the lack of statistical information; this shall be rectified as and when more information has been received.
Four teams competed in the football tournament, which took place between 23-26 July: Chuuk, Pohnpei, hosts Yap (all from the FSM), and Palau. The tournament was held at the Matson Yap Sports Complex in Gigil, some seven miles from the island capital, Colonia.
Both Kiribati and Nauru were slated to take part in the competition, but both withdrew from the tournament, apparently for financial reasons. For the Kiribati side, it was the second time in five months that they had done so: they were due to take part in the CONIFA Football World Cup, which was held in London from 31 May-9 June, but also scratched from that tournament.
Nauru went so far as to withdraw their entire team from the Games, although one athlete, Jonah Harris, decided to represent his island without any financial support and came away with five medals, a wonderful achievement in any circumstances.
The first match of the football tournament was a re-run of the 2014 final, when Pohnpei defeated Palau 3:1, and Pohnpei came out on top this time, too, by 2 goals to 1. Yap finished third in the group stage four years ago, but finished fourth and last after losing the third-place play-off to Chuuk. They got their revenge on home turf, winning 4:2 in what was the game with the highest number of goals in the tournement.
Chuuk defeated Palau 1:0 in a game which was the lowest-scoring of the tournament - and which was originally incorrectly reported by officials as a 1:0 victory for the Palauans, much to the consternation of some. (Mistakes can happen, though, so folk should not be too critical of the volunteer staff on duty at the games; we have all been there.) Next up came two draws for Pohnpei, which confirmed their progress to the final on goal-difference ahead of Chuuk. Yap joined them after defeating Palau in the final group-stage game.
Palau defeated Chuuk 2:0 in the third-place play-off, immediately before Pohnpei defeated the hosts in the final by the odd goal in five to secure their second Micronesian Games title. Unfortunately, the Pohnpeian side will not be able to defend their title at the next Micronesian Games, which are scheduled to be held in the Marshall Islands in 2022. A spokesperson for the Marshall Islands National Olympic Committee told Pat's Football Blog that football is not on the list of sports for the Games, due to there being no suitable facilities on the main island, Majuro.
RESULTS - GROUP STAGE
23/07/18 Pohnpei 2:1 Palau
23/07/18 Yap 4:2 Chuuk
24/07/18 Chuuk 1:0 Palau
24/07/18 Pohnpei 2:2 Yap
25/07/18 Chuuk 1:1 Pohnpei
25/07/18 Yap 2:1 Palau
TEAM
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
PTS
|
GD
|
YAP
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
0
|
8
|
5
|
7
|
3
|
POHNPEI
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
5
|
4
|
5
|
1
|
Chuuk
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
4
|
-1
|
Palau
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
-3
|
THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF
26/07/18 Palau 2:0 Chuuk
FINAL
26/07/18 Yap 2:3 Pohnpei
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Many thanks to the staff of the Micronesian Games for their help with this article, to Roon Ba for their assistance with one or two of the results, and to the spokesperson for the Marshall Islands NOC for their help. Facebook and the Marshall Islands Journal were also perused.
Apologies for the lack of statistical information; this shall be rectified as and when more information has been received.
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