Marañon caps Far East United’s 4-2 win over West Ham in TST

MANILA, Philippines – Far East United stunned the entire The Soccer Tournament $1 Million Winner-Take-All when they defeated the West Ham United legends, 4-2, at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina Thursday evening.

Far East United scored the first three goals, with Tyler John, Fellipe Oliveira and Safee Sali finding the back of the net.

It was the team from Asia that proved to be dangerous in the first half of play, but the match remained scoreless.

Seven minutes into the reset, Far East United midfielder and Guam captain Jason Cunliffe found himself unmarked close to the box. Drawing attention, he passed to his left where Tyler John waited. John then blasted the ball into the net for the first goal. 

Three minutes later, Fellipe Souza and Jason Cunliffe played wonderful two-man passes that led to the second goal. Cunliffe found himself once more unmarked to the left of the goal, and this time he spotted Souza darting in. The shot found itself into the back of the net.

The third goal that came a minute later was a pure masterclass goal, with Sali receiving the ball behind Far East United territory. Allowed to race in, he beat his man 1v1, attracted three more defenders, then poked the ball in for the third goal. 

With their backs to the wall, West Ham responded with two goals to put the pressure back on Far East United.

Marlon Harewood scored off a free kick following a foul by Masaki Watanabe. The ball clipped a defender then found its way to the back of the net.

A few minutes later, Harewood raced down the right flank on a breakaway. His cross breezed past two defenders and Kyle Reid was able to poke the ball in. 

Now playing 5v5 with the target score at four, Alex Caceres was unmarked dangerously close to the West Ham goal. He found Marañon, who twisted two defenders and the goalkeeper into a pretzel then fired home for the winner.

“Fantastic start to the tournament regardless of the opponent,” assessed Far East United head coach Matthew Holland. 

“To beat West Ham with so many top players is a life moment for the boys. The togetherness we built over the past week came through even with players drip-feeding in. We have no alpha player. We just connect. We worked together in this match and managed all the situations.”

“It’s a big win and it gives us confidence,” added the team’s Filipino manager Ethan Lee. “It puts us a step closer to advancing to the next round.”

The AIA-sponsored Southeast Asian-led side started off with Gio Rodriguez minding the sticks, Masaki Watanabe and Anton del Rosario playing defense, Shane Malcolm, Jason Cunliffe, and Nigerian-Indonesian Greg Nwokolo in the midfield, and Malaysian Safee Sali at the forward position.

For the West Ham United legends, David Martin started at goal with Tyrone Mears and Elliot Ward on defense; Archie Woods, Matt Jarvis, and Zavon Hines in the midfield; and Marlon Harewood at the forward position.

The team from Southeast Asia will play Culture by Mo Ali FC next. The team, founded by social media influencer and conditioning coach Mo Ali, earlier defeated Dallas United.