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Taiwan scores with women's soccer

"If we're matched up [against China] again this year, then things could be different as we've learnt the hard way and will be taking the game to them. We're certainly not scared of them."

Taiwan Coach Chang Ming-shen

Political differences were set aside at a press conference yesterday to launch the Asian Women's Football Championship, which begins today in Taipei.

North and South Korea's national coaches sat on opposite sides of the table but smiled winningly at each other, while China's manager was absent but excused.

Taiwan's coach, meanwhile, said he was not "scared" of playing China despite a run of bad results against the mainland.

Organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), a FIFA affiliated soccer body comprising 45 countries, the biannual women's football championship was first held in Hong Kong in 1975.

A Chinese Taipei Football Association spokesperson said that China's absence from the press conference was due to the teams' flight schedule.

With no political overtones behind coach Ma Yuan An's (馬元安) team's no-show, China's national flag continued to fly outside the stadium alongside those of the competition's other 13 nations.

In compliance with International Olympic Committee rules Taiwan's national colors have been replaced with the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag.

The two Koreas also put aside traditional divisions, with North Korean coach Jung Un-son and his South Korean counterpart An Jong-goan exchanging professional pleasantries and smiles throughout the conference.

Whilst the competition has been dominated by China in recent years -- clocking up seven consecutive AFC championship victories -- it was Taiwan that commanded respect in the tournaments' early years.

Lifting the trophy in 1977, 1979 and again in 1981, Taiwan was denied a fourth championship victory by China in the 1999 final by three unanswered goals.

This year's event sees 14 national women's teams looking to hoist the trophy.

Organized into groups A through C in the league stage of the event, the group winners and best second-place team will qualify for the semifinals.

In group A, the host nation is pitched against India, Malaysia, Thailand and South Korea.

Having routed Malaysia 16-0 in the 1999 finals, Taiwan's biggest challenge will be South Korea.

"Obviously it's nice to go into a competition as one of the top-ranked teams but I can see no major hiccups occurring in the first leg," Taiwan coach, Chang Ming-shen (張明賢), said yesterday.

"Saying that, I am very aware of how strong a side South Korea is and we certainly won't be taking it easy. We are ready for a very tough game of football."

Chang wasn't taking any bets on the chances of Taiwan being once again pitted against China in the final.

Should there be another 90-minute cross-strait showdown, however, then Chang and his team are fully prepared to take on the mighty dragon.

"[China] play very fast attacking football. In the past we had a habit of sitting back and letting them bring the game to us," Chang said.

"If we're matched up again this year, then things could be different as we've learnt the hard way and will be taking the game to them. We're certainly not scared of them."

Group B sees North Korea line up against Singapore, Japan, Vietnam and tiny Guam.

North Korea's coach Jung said he was happy to bring a team over but stayed tight lipped about its chances.

"I think we'd better wait until after the matches to comment on performances," he told the Taipei Times.

Guam coach, David Lee Bush, was more upbeat and said he hoped the competition would be a boost not only for football in his country but across the whole of Asia.

Competition favorite China, in group C, is set to play Kong Kong, Uzbekistan and the Philippines.

Unlike the recent Baseball World Cup, which saw several of Taiwan's larger cities sharing the limelight and hosting matches, the AFC Asian Women's Soccer Championship will be taking place only in Taiwan's capital.

All first-round matches will be split between the Taipei Municipal Stadium and the Chungshan Stadium.

The semifinals and final will take place on Dec. 14 and 16 respectively, at Taipei's Chungshan Stadium.

This year's women's soccer championship starts today at the Taipei Municipal Stadium, when group B teams Singapore and Japan face off at 1pm and South Korea plays Guam at 3pm.

Local fans will have to wait until 7:30pm to see Taiwan take on Malaysia in its opener at the Chungshan Stadium.

Today's final game sees India and South Korea kicking off at 9:30pm, again at Chungshan Stadium.

Admission to all the games is free.
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