People hoping to cheer for the Taiwanese soccer teams have something to look forward to this month, with the first of a series of important international soccer games kicking off in Kaohsiung yesterday.
Taiwan and Brunei faced off at the Kaohsiung National Stadium last night for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition in Asia.
Taiwan have put together their strongest team in recent years, recruiting professional soccer players Xavier Chen (陳昌源) and Chen Po-liang (陳伯良) — who play for China’s Guizhou Renhe and Hangzhou Greentown Football Clubs respectively — to beef up the player lineup.
According to the Sports Administration, the World Cup preliminary in 2011, in which Taiwan was denied the chance to enter the next round after losing to Malaysia, drew close to 15,000 soccer fans to Taipei Municipal Stadium.
Meanwhile, the first round of Asian qualifiers for women’s soccer in next year’s Olympics Games in Rio De Janeiro begins next Friday in Taipei Stadium, when Taiwan’s women’s soccer team, also known as the Mulans, is scheduled to play against Laos.
The Mulans are also set to play against Iran on March 24.
The qualifiers for men’s soccer in the Asian Football Confederation U23 Championship, which also act as qualifiers for the Olympics, will start on March 27 at Kaohsiung’s National Stadium, when Taiwan play Myanmar.
Taiwan’s U23 team face Australia and Hong Kong on March 29 and March 31 respectively.
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