Iran yesterday beat long-suffering Taiwan 4-0 in its first qualifying game for the Asian Cup, the region's premier soccer contest.
In front of a crowd of only 5,000 in Tehran's Azadi stadium, the Iranian team, missing European players, dominated Taiwan throughout but failed to achieve a score that reflected the gap between the teams.
Andranik Teymourian (35), Mehrzad Madanchi (48, 60) and Ali Daei (82) were Iran's scorers.
Defending Asian champions Japan fired a warning shot to their rivals with an impressive 6-0 rout of India, while 2004 runner-up China struggled against the Palestinian territories before prevailing 2-0 in a far from convincing display against a side ranked 63 places below them.
In Tashkent, Uzbekistan thrashed Bangladesh 5-0, while Singapore beat Iraq 2-0.
In other results at press time, South Korea defeated home team Syria 2-1, while Hong Kong lost to visitors Qatar 2-0.
Taiwan's next game is at home against Syria on March 1.
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Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique