2023 Micronesian Futsal Cup

The 2023 Micronesian Futsal Cup, commonly referred to as Micro Cup 2023, was the inaugural edition of the Micronesian Futsal Cup, the international futsal championship organised by Federated States of Micronesia Football Association for the men's national teams of Micronesia. It was the first competition of any kind for the FSM islands for five years (since the three islands participated in the 2018 Micronesian Games) and its first futsal event.[1][2]

2023 Micronesian Futsal Cup
FSM Futsal Cup 2023
Tournament details
Host country Pohnpei
CityKolonia
Dates8–15 July
Teams4
Venue(s)1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions Yap (1st title)
Runners-up Kosrae
Third place Pohnpei
Fourth place Chuuk
Tournament statistics
Matches played10
Goals scored133 (13.3 per match)
Best player(s)Yap State Maphrick Ruweday
Best young playerKosrae Yobi Laurdine
Best goalkeeperKosrae Nick Santiago

Yap emerged as the champions of the tournament by defeating Kosrae in the final with a score of 9 to 7. Kosrae, making their debut in a futsal or football competition, secured the second position.[3]

Format

edit

The tournament follows a two-stage structure consisting of a group and a knockout stage.

  • Group stage: all participating teams compete against each other once, determining their rankings and seedings for the subsequent knockout stage.
  • knockout stage: the winners from the group stage are paired against the fourth-ranked team, while the second-ranked team faces off against the third-ranked team. The Winners of each semi-final match will then proceed to the final.

Participating nations

edit

On 14 February 2023, the Four states of Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap) were confirmed as participants with invitations being sent to other nations in the region. However, they did not appear on the final list of participants.

Team App Last Best placement in the tournament
  Chuuk
1st
debut
  Kosrae
1st
debut
  Pohnpei
1st
debut
  Yap
1st
debut

Squads

edit
  Pohnpei[4]
No Player
6 Lester James
7 Steven Laurdine
8 Zack Henly
10 Shawn Silbenuz
11 Phillip Camriche
14 Galiart James
22 Paul Ryan
33 MacArthur James
  Yap[5]
No Player
1 Dylan Tangrus
3 Robert Guswel
4 Jarret Tailig
7 Maphrick Ruweday
10 Sean Southwick
13 Myles Mailing
  Chuuk[6]
No Player
1 Micah Nittu
5 Season Elimo
7 Robert Vonvon
8 K-Kin Kin
10 Daichy Rudolph
11 Luke Kayden Mersai
12 Mark Nittu
13 Texter Rain
  Kosrae[7]
No Player
3 Kenny Aldana
7 Khriis Diau
8 Yobi Laurdine
9 Nick Santiago
10 Travis Henly
11 Frankie Donre

Group Stage

edit
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Kosrae 3 2 0 1 21 14 +7 6 Semi-final 1
2   Yap 3 2 0 1 19 16 +3 6 Semi-final 2
3   Pohnpei (H) 3 1 0 2 18 19 −1 3
4   Chuuk 3 1 0 2 16 25 −9 3 Semi-final 1
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: Group stage tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Pohnpei  10–3  Chuuk
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia
Kosrae  7–2  Yap
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia

Pohnpei  1–6  Yap
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia
Kosrae  4–5  Chuuk
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia

Pohnpei  7–10  Kosrae
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia
Yap  11–8  Chuuk
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia

Knockout stage

edit
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
12 July- Pohnpei Public Gymnasium
 
 
  Kosrae9
 
14 July - Pohnpei Public Gymnasium
 
  Chuuk2
 
  Kosrae7
 
12 July- Pohnpei Public Gymnasium
 
  Yap9
 
  Yap10
 
 
  Pohnpei5
 
Third place
 
 
14 July - Pohnpei Public Gymnasium
 
 
  Chuuk5
 
 
  Pohnpei12

Semi-finals

edit
Kosrae  9–2  Chuuk
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia
Yap  10–5  Pohnpei
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia

Third place Match

edit
Chuuk  5–12  Pohnpei
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia

Final

edit
Kosrae  7–9  Yap
Report
Pohnpei Public Gymnasium, Kolonia

Goalscorers

edit

There were 38 goals scored in 5 matches, for an average of 7.6 goals per match.

22 goals

8 goals

5 goals

3 goals

Marketing

edit

Branding

edit

The official emblem was designed by Canadian Noah Wheelock and unveiled in April 2023. it features the lorikeet to represent the host Pohnpei. the bird was surrounded by a blue circle and several blue stars to show the unity of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Sponsorship

edit
  •   HA7 Classical Shirts

References

edit
  1. ^ "Micro Cup the first step on the road to reviving FSM's ill fated national soccer team". abc.net.au. Tahlea Aualiitia. 20 April 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Inside tiny islands clinging to World Cup dreams despite FIFA not recognising them". mirror.co.uk. Tom Victor. 7 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
  3. ^ Jaynes, Bill. "Yap team takes first place at historic first ever FSM National Futsal Championship". The Kaselehlie Press. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
  4. ^ @RealFSMFootball (June 29, 2023). "Pohnpei — Call ups" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  5. ^ @RealFSMFootball (July 3, 2023). "Yap — Call ups" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ @RealFSMFootball (July 5, 2023). "Chuuk — Call ups" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ @RealFSMFootball (July 4, 2023). "Kosrae — Call ups" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
edit