Iran’s Journey to Russia… 1 on 1 with Guam’s Captain

Persianfootball.com – Our exclusive one-on-one chat with Jason Cunliffe, the Matao’s captain and most capped player of all time, in its entirety and with only editorial corrections.  For the introductory article, “Eye of the Storm”, please click here…

BG:  It’s absolutely great to have this opportunity to have a one-on-one chat with you and provide a window into the Guam national football/soccer team and hopefully a little bit of the Guamanian culture for Iranian fans.

First of all, let me start by congratulating you for two straight victories.  To register a first ever world cup win and then double up the feat in just 5 days was quite an extraordinary achievement.  I think it’s safe to say that you have surprised most of the fans from other countries in Group D, but reading the Wall Street Journal’s interview with you and Gary, I get the feeling the results were not as unexpected for you.

What’s making this campaign different than previous ones and where is this surge of confidence coming from?  Is it Gary’s approach to the game, tactical adjustments, better players being trained in the US soccer system, self-belief, a combination of those or other issues?

Jason:  Prior to this campaign, the only other time Guam participated in World Cup qualifiers, was in 2000 when we were heavily defeated by Iran and Tajikistan.  At that time I was living in Texas with my grandparents specifically for football. Back then we did not have a national academy in place or any of the current infrastructure so in order to develop my game further I had to leave the island.

So that kind of shows you how removed we are from that campaign. That being said, it wasn’t until the Gaffer [Gary White] came in that we really started to see our growth. It has been almost 3 years now and it has definitely been a process.

The first thing he brought was the change in mentality. He instilled within the squad an unbelievable belief that we can go out and beat anyone.  He has also done a terrific job of finding players with Guam roots who weren’t in our player pool before. Over the years we’ve added one or two guys here or there and we’ve all gelled really well.

Some guys didn’t even know Guam had a national team prior to coming in but caught wind of us through some of our recent successes on social media.   Anytime you can bring in players like AJ DeLaGarza and Ryan Guy, players with big time experience, it’s only going to help the program grow. So yeah definitely it has been a combination of all those things.

BG:  Have these two wins changed your popularity and that of the national team, or the popularity of football in Guam in general?  It was obviously nice that you started this campaign with a brand new song for the national team.

Jason:  Oh ya absolutely. Football has been the biggest youth sport for some time now and with the establishment of the national academy it has only grown, but winning those two matches has done wonders for the game on the island.

You know as well as I that people want to be associated with winners and historically Guam hasn’t done much of that in international football so to do that now, on the biggest stage in the world, it has definitely changed the game for the better.

BG:  I had done a bit of research on Guam before, and reading your comments to the WSJ reminded me a little bit of the legends of Gadao.  Legends/folk tales play a big part in the Iranian popular psyche.  Is it the same in Guam and more specifically, do they play any part in the psyche and fighting spirit of the national team?  Is Gadao’s three feats of strength providing any inspiration for the next match with you having mastered two feats already?

Jason:  Yes absolutely.  Guam has always been fighting against colonialism, even to this day. As of late there has been a huge resurgence in our language and our cultural identity. You see there were times in our history that our colonizers didn’t allow our people to speak our language. Also, after the Americans “liberated” us from the Japanese in WW2, many families wanted their children to speak English in an attempt to show gratitude and to be more American.

So with this resurgence we’ve done the same with the national team, by giving us a cultural moniker in the name Matao. We definitely have a greater connection to our ancestors and we feed off of our people’s fighting spirit anytime we step on the pitch.

While we do use Gadao’s drawing as our mascot so to speak (a number of us have it as a tattoo) I wouldn’t say we are using Gadao’s legend specifically per se as we have 8 matches and not just 3 but we do feed off of our cultural identity most definitely.

If you read history books Chamorros were recounted as being big strong people and we had the fastest boats (sakman or proa) in all of the world. We take pride in that. We also say the Inifresi before every match. It is a pledge to protect our language, our lands, our air and our water [Inifresi English translation].

BG:  Did you watch Iran’s match against Turkmenistan or the friendly against Uzbekistan and if so, what were your thoughts?  Were you surprised that Iran only managed to get a tie against Turkmenistan and does that give you an extra boost of confidence going into the September 3rd clash?

Jason:  We’ve seen parts of the Turkmenistan game as well as the Uzbekistan game but we will definitely have our film sessions as a team when we get back together in late August. You know as well as I that football is a strange game sometimes and maybe the strongest teams don’t always win. We have nothing but respect for Iran and will prepare ourselves accordingly.

Turkmenistan has a history of getting good results against Iran. For some reason or another they’ve managed to continue that trend. I mean it definitely bodes well for us anytime the top seed is dropping points but we aren’t silly enough to think that will automatically translate into a result for us. We are definitely confident but that has more so to do with our own abilities than anything else.

BG: There were suggestions that you were originally supposed to play your home game against Iran somewhere in Iran but the venue may now be moved to Guam FA National Training Centre.  This has led to some speculation among Iranian fans that after these two victories and Iran’s poor start, you feel more confident that you may be able to cause an upset against Iran in front of your home fans.  Is that the reason for the move or were there logistical reasons?

JC:  You know, I think it is partially due to that along with how successful our games were for our FA. Remember this was our first time hosting anything of this magnitude and initially I think we may have felt a bit overwhelmed with the task.

But after seeing how successful it was, tied into the fact that we did get six points from our first two matches, I think we will give ourselves any advantage we can. No doubt playing in Guam in November will be much different than the cold weather of Tehran and being an islander I’m not too fond of the cold!

BG:  What are your expectations of the reception you will receive in Iran and the Iranians’ hospitality in lieu of the fact that Guam is a US territory and the unfortunate political issues between Iran and the United States?  Are there any concerns or are you looking forward to the cultural exchange?

Jason:  I expect the people to cheer strongly for their team and to boo us loudly [LOL].  I’m sure they are interested to see what’s so different from this Guam team than the one they beat heavily in 2000.

But otherwise I expect to be treated well. I’m very excited to go to Iran as not many Americans get the opportunity. Governments don’t always represent the people very well and I have a feeling that doesn’t only pertain to America. I have no concerns as I’ve traveled the world enough to know that things aren’t always what they seem in the media.

BG:  Although the venue for the Iran-Guam clash has not been finalized [at the time of this interview, Tehran’s Azadi Stadium had not been confirmed as the venue for the clash], it is likely that you will be playing in front of 30,000 fans or more.  Have you ever played in front of such large crowds?  Is that an intimidating prospect or does playing in front of larger crowds actually give the team a boost and get them more pumped up?

Jason:  I’ve played in front of 20,000 maybe. Others in our team have played in front of 50,000 or more. I don’t necessarily think we will be intimidated by any means. We are always the underdog and we are used to playing on the road so that’s nothing new.

I actually enjoy playing the heal so to speak.  I think it stems from watching WWF as a child [Haha]. Of course I try to do it in a classy way but I personally feed off of the negativity. I think it’s the whole back against the wall mentality and at that point it’s fight or flight and I’m not one to run away from a fight.

BG:  Does the 19-0 loss to Iran in 2002 World Cup qualifying play into your approach to this game at all or is that all in the past and a long forgotten memory?

Jason:  Absolutely not. Aside from myself and maybe 2 other guys, nobody was really involved with Guam football at that time. It isn’t even a memory for most of the team.

BG:  Considering that you went from losing to India 4-0 in your 2nd last encounter, to a 2-1 victory a few weeks ago, do you think you can also cause a major upset in Iran, that being even just a tie?  Or do you actually fancy your chances of beating Iran on home soil?

Jason:  Would the Iranians consider it a major coup if we stole a point in Iran? I’d bet the house on it. Again we are extremely confident in our abilities no matter who is in front of us. We are coming in to take some points.

If we can snatch three points all the better but we aren’t naive enough to think one point wouldn’t be a huge accomplishment. We know it will be a tough test but if we really want to see where we stand, there’s nobody better to play than the number one ranked team in Asia.

BG:  Are there any other thoughts you would like to share about this game or the remainder of the road ahead?  Is there anything else you think your teammates or Gary would like to add?

Jason:  Thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit about our team and our island with the people of Iran.  We are looking forward to coming to your country and visiting Tehran. I hear it is extremely beautiful and I look forward to interacting with as many Iranians as I can on the trip.

I had a couple of Iranian teammates when I played in the Philippines and I believe a few of them are back in Iran so I’m hoping to run into them while we are there.  Other than that, we hope to earn your respect on the pitch and as always it is our goal to change the perception of Guam football. We have a small population but big hearts and we think we will show just that come September 3. 

BG:  Thank you again for this one-on-one session.  It’s great to use soccer/football as a cultural ambassador and to make some new friends in the process.  It has been an absolute pleasure to talk to you.  On behalf of PFDC, I wish you and the team a very safe and fun trip to Tehran and the best of luck in the remainder of your games for Russia 2018.

Jason:  Good to talk to you. As you said football allows us so many opportunities and sharing our cultures is one of the most amazing aspects of such. I have to say I’ve been interviewed a number of times as of late but I’m quite impressed with your questions; you’d clearly done your research.

Editor’s Final Note:   Congratulations to Jason and the Guam National Football team for achieving their highest ever FIFA ranking at 154, after this interview was conducted and the great results against Turkmenistan and India