The fifth and sixth matches in the AFC Women's Olympic Soccer preliminary competition were played in Taipei yesterday, with both Taiwan and Australia, who were paired in the second match, already qualified for the next round with unbeaten records.
The game that most of the crowd at the Zhongshan Stadium had come to see followed a clash between Myanmar and Uzbekistan. The Australians kicked-off and immediately set up in an attacking 4-3-3 formation, with wingers Heather Garriock and Sarah Walsh either side of their tall center forward Kathryn Gill. The Aussies had obviously done their homework on the opposition and immediately set to work getting the ball to the flanks as quickly as possible, causing all sorts of problems for the home side's defense.
Early chances for Caitlin Munoz and Collette McCallum, set up by the tireless and tricky Walsh, were spurned, but Taiwan couldn't hold out for long. In the 14th minute Garriock again got away on the left wing and crossed perfectly for Gill to score with a stooping header. Gill continued to cause problems for the Taiwanese center backs, who could not cope with her aerial power.
PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In the 26th minute another cross from the right by the flying Walsh was volleyed in at the back post by Gill. Walsh turned from provider into a scorer three minutes later when she tapped in Joanne Burgess' cross to make it 0-3.
Taiwan gave the crowd hope in the 35th minute following a break down the left, when Tsai Pei-wen (蔡佩紋) found herself free with the ball on the right of the penalty area and coolly converted past the helpless Melissa Barbieri in the Aussie goal.
The hope was short-lived as the Aussies again picked up the tempo of their game, and in the 44th minute a cross from McCallum was headed home from the penalty spot by the irrepressible Gill, completing her hat-trick.
Taiwan kicked-off the second half looking to bounce back, but it took only four minutes for the Aussies to increase their lead when Gill headed home yet another right wing cross. Taiwan gallantly battled back, but were still being caused no end of problems by the Aussie wingers. An injury to Lo Huei-tzu (
Taiwan held out until the 72nd minute, when Huang failed to punch clear a corner and the ball fell to Peters who got it past two defenders on the line for Australia's sixth goal.
Substitute Tseng Shu-o (曾淑娥) had a chance in the 75th minute, but her shot was saved by Barbieri, and Australia made it seven in the 83rd minute when substitute Danielle Small scored, again with an unchallenged header from a corner.
Gill wrapped things up with her fifth goal in the 89th minute of the game.
In the end, the Australian tactics and the aerial power of Gill were too much for a spirited Taiwan team to cope with. They will need to improve in the next round in order to make the trip to Beijing next year.
The opening match between Uzbekistan and Myanmar ended in a 1-1 draw, with Uzbekistan's women replying to Myanmar's early goal in the opening minutes of the second half.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS