Wembley seemed a long way away last night as the Taiwan men’s soccer team were beaten 2-0 by Jordan in their London 2012 Olympic Games qualifier at Taipei Municipal Stadium.
Anas Abed Salem Aljabarat scored from close range in the first half and substitute Yousef Ahmad Mohammad Rawshdeh wrapped up the win in the 89th minute.
Jordan, playing a 4-4-2 formation, started the match on top, with Hamza al-Dardour looking particularly dangerous up front and the Taiwan defense looking uneasy despite the hosts playing five in midfield in a bid to protect their centerbacks.
However, it was Taiwan who had the first good chance of the game in the sixth minute when a mix-up in Jordan’s midfield presented the ball to Su De-cai, whose dipping shot from 30m hit the crossbar with Jordan goalkeeper Feras Emad Saleh Salem beaten.
Jordan replied two minutes later, when Khalil Zaid Baniateyah’s long-range volley was smartly saved by Taiwan goalkeeper Wei Sheng-hsin.
Jordan were on top and when South Korean referee Kim Sang-woo showed Taiwan’s Lin Hsiao-cheng a yellow card for a deliberate handball, the resulting free-kick was headed behind as Taiwan’s defense struggled to cope with Jordan’s threat in the air.
In the 21st minute Dardour’s cross into the box led to a goalmouth scramble and Wei saved from point-blank range to keep his side in the game.
In the 25th minute, Chan Che-yuan won Taiwan’s first corner, with Salem doing well to push away the resulting header on target.
However, three minutes later Jordan’s superiority told as Aljabarat fired home from a free-kick to give the hosts a mountain to climb.
Wei Pei-lun had a chance to equalize when he burst into the Jordan penalty-area on 35 minutes, but he tripped over the ball.
Taiwan brought Chen Hao-wei on for Lin Chang-lun and Chang Kai-hsiang saw his header saved by Salem in the 40th minute, but it was Jordan who came closest to extending their lead when Wei Sheng-hsin dived to his right to push away Saeed Murjan’s shot.
Taiwan came out in the second half knowing they needed to score, with Tseng Chih-wei replaced by Chiu I-huan during the break.
Taiwan saw much more of the ball at the beginning of the second period as they pushed for an equalizer, the hundreds of home supporters willing their side on at a noisy Municipal Stadium.
The noise levels were ratcheted up after 60 minutes when Chen Po-hao almost got on the end of a cross and with the hosts causing Jordan’s defense more problems than the first half, Chan’s rasping free-kick from 25m out just skimmed the post with Salem beaten.
Two minutes later it could have been all over when Jordan had the ball in Taiwan’s net, but the referee disallowed the effort, awarding the home side a free-kick and a reprieve.
Rawshdeh, brought on for Dardour in the 72nd minute, sealed the result in the 89th minute when he got on the end of a cross to head emphatically past Wei Sheng-hsin and then ran over to the bench to celebrate progressing to the next round.
Taiwan’s participation in the Olympic Games has been a story of politics as much as sports, with the name it has competed under since 1984 — Chinese Taipei — drawing as much attention as its athletes. However, with the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad set to begin in Paris on Friday, the exploits of Taiwan’s athletes past and present who have won 36 medals since the country’s debut in Melbourne in 1956 deserve a nod. Many of Taiwan’s medal winners have gained considerable name recognition, but only two have achieved legendary status — Maysang Kalimud and Chi Cheng, the only medal winners
Shohei Ohtani on Sunday hit a 473-foot (144m) home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers went deep six times in a 9-6 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Freddie Freeman, Teoscar Hernandez, Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes and Jason Heyward also connected as Los Angeles swept the three-game series. “Going into the break, we weren’t playing good baseball, and then to come out fresh against a really good ball club and to play the way we did — the offense came to life,” Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said. It was the 25th time the Dodgers launched at least six homers in a game
Canada women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman on Wednesday said she would step away from the team’s opening game against New Zealand at the Paris Olympics in the wake of a drone scandal. New Zealand complained to the International Olympic Committee’s integrity unit after it said drones were flown over closed practice sessions earlier in the week. As of press time last night, Canada, the defending Olympic champions, were set to open the Paris Games against New Zealand in Saint-Etienne. In the fallout of the complaint, two staff members — assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi — were sent home, the
Conventional wisdom dictates that the average retirement age for elite female players in the intense and physically demanding sport of badminton is well under 30 years old. Five female shuttlers are set to turn that on its head when they make their fourth Olympic appearances at the Paris Games, a feat never accomplished before. Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying, 30, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon, 29, Belgium’s Lianne Tan, 33, and Hong Kong’s Tse Ying Suet and Canada’s Michelle Li, both 32, are to compete for Olympic glory at Porte de La Chapelle Arena from Saturday to Aug. 5. “These achievements get missed because they’re women,” said