The Guam men's football team are looking to atone for a "disappointing" performance when they meet Bhutan in the second leg of their FIFA World Cup and Asian Cup qualifying match this afternoon.
The Matao slumped to a 1-0 defeat in the first leg in Thimphu on Thursday.
Guam captain Jason Cunliffe challenges for the ball during the Matao's FIFA World Cup and Asian Cup first round qualifying match in Bhutan. Photo: Bhutan Football Federation
Head coach Karl Dodd said the team only played for two minutes out of 90 and created two one on one chances that they should have scored from.
He said they did not stick to the gameplan and will need to perform much better to have a chance at progressing to the second qualifying round.
"It's about just believing, be free, go out and play and enjoy it - don't work yourselves up and add all this pressure to yourself," he said.
"They've got to release themselves from that a little bit and enjoy the game, play football because that's all we've been working on and they're very good at it when they play and that was probably the most disappointing thing (from the first leg that) they didn't give a good account of themselves, they could do so much more."
Guam men's football coach Karl Dodd (c) wants a better performance in the return leg against Bhutan. Photo: Bhutan Football Federation
After failing to find the back of the net in Bhutan last week, Karl Dodd said the Matao can not afford to slip up on defence and will have to be wary of conceding an away goal in today's return leg at the GFA National Training Center in Dededo.
"It would have been nice if it was a draw at least but it's 1-0, it's not a huge deficit," he said.
"I mean 1-0 changes everything: when we start the game if we get up an early goal it definitely builds momentum. It's just the away goals (rule) is a tough one. If it's a draw it goes into extra time they still have an away goal advantage."
"[It's] not going to be a gung-ho approach but we'll be definitely attack minded," said Dodd of the home side's intended approach to the second leg.
"It's a tough one to gauge because we didn't come out and play (like we trained to in the first leg) so it's really hard to get a gauge of where we're at against Bhutan.
"We're just asking the players to be brave, come out and play and obviously have a balanced approach - like i said we're not just going gung-ho."
Guam last played a home international in 2015. Photo: Facebook / Guam Football Association
Today's match will also mark the first time the Matao have played an international match on home soil since November 2015.
"It's their first home game since I've been here and it's going to be good," said Dodd, who was appointed 18 months ago.
"It is a very family-orientated island so they all talk about the importance of culture and how important their families are and they'll all be coming out to support so hopefully that plays a big part and helps them through."
The winner of the home and away tie will join five other teams in advancing to the second round of qualifying for the 2023 Asian Cup.
