Last country without football team finally getting one – with Englishman at helm

The last country on Earth without a national football team is set to get one.

Englishman Lloyd Owers has been tasked with building the foundations that will deliver the sport to the Marshall Islands, known as the host of US nuclear testing. The 33-year-old has worked at clubs including Oxford United, Mansfield Town, Colchester United and Chelmsford City, as well as providing consultancy for teams across Canada, the United States and Sweden.

But his role with the island group in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is his most unique to date. With a US airbase in the country, American influence is strong, meaning sports like basketball and baseball are widely played.

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However, Owers is making head with football. He told the BBC: “With football, or soccer, because that has grown in the States, it has also grown on the Marshall Islands.

“My first aim is for football to be recognised as a widespread sport across the country, with the team competing in national games. Then we’d want the team to be able to compete in world competitions, including the Olympics.”

The coach, who hails from Oxfordshire, made the 13,000km journey for the first time this summer. He oversaw the first football session for children led by The Marshall Islands Soccer Federation.

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The end goal is for the nation of 60,000 to achieve Oceania Football Confederation membership. He added: “We want to be part of World Cup qualifiers. I think in 10 years, if we keep going the way the federation wants to push their aims, there’s no reason that wouldn’t happen.”

The Marshall Islands lie in the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and the Philippines, where climate change and rising sea levels are a big concern. A new national stadium, surrounded by sea defences, is under construction in the capital Majuro and it is hoped the national team can help draw attention to the environmental issues which threaten the islands.

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