The best of the Shepparton community was on show during the past week, throwing its support behind the Northern Mariana Islands soccer team.
In town to compete in the AFC U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers, the nation of just 57,000 people captured the hearts of the community.
Three Shepparton locals went as far as attending one of the team’s training sessions, with Brodie Antunov, Adam Chandler and Harry Willaton showing their support for the team.
“We know they don’t have the biggest fan squad,” Chandler said.
“We just wanted to come down and support them, we’ve seen their other scores and they didn’t go too well,” Willaton said.
Aged 14 and 15, the boys attended the Islands’ last game against Cambodia on Sunday night, with a goal of motivating their new favourite country to victory.
While the side lost 4-0 in its last match, the supporting trio showed plenty of love for its new-found team, even joining the squad for a post game photo on the field.
NMI goalkeeper Vicente Jose Reyes said it meant a lot that the boys showed their support.
“From a small island to a big continent it’s really crazy,” Reyes said.
The lads were not the only people who threw their support behind the minnow nation, with one supporter providing a donation to the team and others buying head coach Michiteru Mita beers at the pub.
“Yesterday (Saturday) the same guy came to the Cambodian training and gave another six pack to (Cambodian coach) Inoue (Kazunori),” Mita said.
“I drunk one can of the beer to relax.”
City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Shane Sali also made an appearance at the Islands’ training, further showing how the community got around the team.
“He (Sali) shared about why they hosted an international event here and they wanted to promote sports tourism and this is similar to our island,” Mita said.
While results on the field did not go their way, the impact the Islanders have had on Shepparton ― and Shepparton on them ― is sure to be long lasting.