Taiwan’s national soccer team fell to a 6-1 defeat at the hands of North Korea yesterday in the second round of East Asian Cup qualifiers at the Mong Kok Stadium in Hong Kong.
North Korea were 3-0 up at halftime. An Il-bom scored in the 28th minute, Pak Song-chol extended the lead six minutes later and Ri Kwang-hyok netted three minutes before the break.
On 65 minutes, Pak Nam-chol made it four and Ri Myong-jun added the fifth two minutes later.
Chen Hao-wei got a consolation for Taiwan in the 79th minute, but Ri Myong-jun added his second and North Korea’s sixth a minute before fulltime.
In the earlier match, hosts Hong Kong defeated Guam 2-1.
Chan Siu-ki scored the hosts first goal in the second minute of the game, before heading the second in the 17th to put Hong Kong in control. Guam managed to pull one back through Elias Merfalen in the 56th minute.
Taiwan are not in action tomorrow, when North Korea take on Guam at the Mong Kok Stadium at 5:50pm, followed by the hosts against Australia at 8:30pm.
Australia coach Holger Osieck told Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper his side, 33rd in FIFA’s world rankings, would not take Hong Kong, ranked No. 172, lightly.
“You must not discount the local team,” Osieck said. “It’s the start of the tournament, they’ve got the support, they are fresh and full of enthusiasm. If you play that team in the last game they may have dropped some points and it’s a different situation, but here they are full of energy and so I would never underestimate them. The first game of every tournament is always the most important and then you see how it goes.”
The winners of the tournament, which finishes next Sunday, face South Korea, Japan and China in the finals of the competition in South Korea next year.
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS