Taiwan’s national soccer team yesterday defeated a 10-man Guam side 2-0 at Mong Kok Stadium in Hong Kong in the second round of qualifiers for next year’s East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) East Asian Championship.
It was Taiwan’s first win under Japanese head coach Kazuo Kuroda after losing to North Korea and Hong Kong.
Guam started out strong, with repeated forays that put pressure on Taiwan’s defenders, but a red card to Guam midfielder Justin Lee in the 16th minute turned the tables in Taiwan’s favor.
Photo provided by Chinese Taipei Football Association
They seized on their one-man advantage in the 26th minute when striker Wu Chun-ching received a pass and slotted home a goal for a 1-0 lead.
Guam fought hard for the rest of the match as they searched for of an equalizer, but Taiwan’s defense withstood the pressure.
In a well built-up play starting inside their own half, Taiwan set up midfielder Lin Chien-hsun inside the 18-yard box and his drive found the net for a second goal in the 80th minute.
With the first win under his belt, Kuroda praised his players after the game.
“The team put in 100 percent for today’s victory, and they can play even better in the next international competition,” he said. “This win can also serve to encourage Taiwan’s grassroots soccer players to improve their game.”
Wu said the whole team put in a good performance and he was happy to score a goal.
“We had been tired a bit from the past two matches, but we had the fighting spirit and played the game with strong mental strength,” he said.
In the second match of the evening, Hong Kong lost to North Korea 1-0.
Striker Jong Il-gwan intercepted a misdirected pass just inside Hong Kong’s half, outpacing the Hong Kong defenders to storm into the goal area, chipping the ball over the goalkeeper for the only goal of the match.
It was North Korea’s third win in three games, and the victory secured them a berth in next year’s championship finals, where they will face Japan, South Korea and China, who had already qualified.
WOMEN’S COMPETITION
In the women’s competition, attacking midfielder Lin Ya-han scored a hat-trick to lead Taiwan to an 8-1 rout of Guam on Friday, while South Korea showed no mercy with a 13-0 thrashing of Hong Kong.
It set up a showdown between Taiwan and South Korea for tomorrow at 2:30pm, the winners of which will be the top team to advance out of the group into next year’s women’s finals.
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