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Taiwan's soccer Summer Cup kicks off tomorrow

After a two-week delay because of the wet weather, Taiwan's Summer Cup will be on this weekend at Dajia Riverside Park, bringing together 16 Taiwan-based foreign teams and 250 players.

Matches will take place on two groomed pitches located near Gate 7 of the park, with the first game at 10:30am and the last starting at around 4pm tomorrow and Sunday.

This is the second year the tournament has been held at Dajia Riverside Park and organizers have gone out of their way to ensure the best possible playing conditions, including a financial outlay of NT$45,000, installing new goals and overseeing seeding, fertilizing and rolling of pitches.

"We changed the goals because the old ones weren't safe. The government actually had new ones in a storehouse, and we paid someone to bring them over and set them [in place]," tournament organizer Michael Chandler said.

But the installation of the new goals did a little damage as well, as the company hired to install the goals drove across both pitches, leaving deep tire tracks on a rain-sodden surface.

Despite their hard work and best intentions, both pitches are still a little "bobbly," Chandler said.

While playing conditions will be challenging, the tournament's two-day format is designed to provide each team with ample opportunities to play and enjoy spirited competition.

Each team will play six matches over two days, and the length of each match is an abbreviated 25 minutes.

"Basically, it will be group play on the first day, followed by a knock-out round," Chandler said.

He said that three penalty kicks will decide the winner in the event of a draw, with the championship match going to a 10 minute extra period before penalty kicks.

The rest of the tournament will follow FIFA rules, complete with red cards and yellow cards.

The organizers have produced a pre-tournament guide featuring personal introductions and team histories.

Tainan Phoenix surprised some by using their team page not to introduce themselves, but to slag off the competition such as the Red Lions who they claim "stole our best player," the Animals who they "used to think were a bunch of jerks" and Compass United who they dubbed as "boring."

This salvo did not go unchallenged, as Taichung Compass United responded in print, providing a precise definition of "boring," and noting that members that dabbled in crochet classes and oil-painting had been replaced by seven Brazilian nationals who will bring creative play to the side.
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