Argentina coach Diego Maradona refused to blame the negative effects of competing at altitude after his side were humiliated 6-1 by Bolivia on Wednesday, thus registering their worst defeat in 60 years.
Bolivia’s goals came from a Joaquin Botero hat-trick and Marcelo Martins, Alex Da Rosa and Didi Torrico, while Argentina found the net through Luis Gonzalez at La Paz’s high-altitude Hernando Siles’ stadium.
But the former World Cup winner, who thus suffered his first defeat since taking over as coach last year, refused to explain his faltering team’s performance on playing at 3,650m above sea level.
“No, the altitude was not an issue. We came up against a team that gave very little away and basically they were the better team,” Maradona said. “It seemed to me that Bolivia gave everything they had, they played well and showed us good football.”
That remark prompted applause from media representatives, apparently for Maradona’s sense of fair-play.
He added: “Whoever played against that Bolivian team would have suffered the same fate as us. I suffered with them [the players]. Every Bolivian goal was a dagger in my heart.”
Argentina goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo, who had a memorable night for the wrong reasons, was first beaten in the 12th minute by Bolivia striker Marcelo Martins, who plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine.
However, the Argentines, twice world champions, were level in the 25th minute when Porto’s Luis Gonzalez hit a shot from 30m without much conviction, but an unexpected bounce meant it went past Bolivia keeper Carlos Arias and into the net.
Bolivia went further ahead in the 34th minute through hat-trick hero Botero of Mexican club Correcaminos, Mexico.
An inspired and motivated Bolivia went 3-1 ahead just before the break, and Da Rosa and then Botero got further goals in the 50th and 66th minutes. Torrico scored the sixth and final goal with three minutes to go. Angel Di Maria was sent off in the 63rd minute to make a terrible night even worse.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS