Taiwan’s under-23 (U23) men’s soccer team salvaged some pride yesterday with an international victory, beating Hong Kong 2-0 at the Kaohsiung National Stadium in the final match of the Asian Football Confederation U23 qualifying group. However, the result was not enough to help the team advance.
Australia proved they are the strongest team in Group F by hammering Myanmar 5-1 in the early game in a match between two previously unbeaten sides.
The U23 Socceroos top the group, followed by Myanmar, who had two wins and a loss, with both advancing to the next round at the expense of Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Photo: Lin Tsung-wei, Taipei Times
Taiwan were under pressure to win in front of a boisterous home crowd, after failing to score in their defeats to Myanmar and Australia.
The hosts went on the offense early on in search of an opening goal. They were rewarded for their attacking efforts when striker Ko Yu-ting opened the account for the hosts in the 38th minute.
A long pass found Ko inside the box and he drilled his shot past the Hong Kong goalkeeper to put his side in front 1-0.
Taiwan doubled their lead in the 42nd minute when attacking midfielder Wen Chih-hao took advantage of a mix-up in the Hong Kong defense, as Wen rounded the goalkeeper and slotted home for the second goal.
In an impressive attacking display Taiwan created more chances in the second half.
In the 57th minute, Wei Yu-jen received the ball on the halfway line and dribbled his way past several defenders before finishing calmly to claim Taiwan’s third goal.
Hong Kong almost got one back in the 64th minute when they had a flurry of good chances and Taiwan’s defense failed to clear the danger, but Taiwan goalkeeper Chiu Yu-hung came to the rescue.
Taiwan could have scored a fourth goal when a blatant foul inside the box resulted in a penalty being awarded. However, striker Chen Chao-an blasted his shot high over the crossbar.
Hong Kong pushed forward in the late stages of the game and were rewarded with a consolation goal when Taiwan’s defense failed to clear the ball on the edge of the box.
Augusto Leung pounced on the ball and struck a low drive into the bottom corner to make the scoreline 3-1.
In the match between Australia and Myanmar, it was all Socceroos through most of the match, with Andrew Hoole scoring a hat-trick, while teammate Jamie Maclaren added a brace. Myanmar could only reply with a single goal by substitute Kaung Sat Naing in the 78th minute.
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