Taiwan on Monday rallied to beat Brunei 2-1 in dramatic fashion with two late goals, securing second place in Group F of qualifying for next year’s Asian Football Confederation U-16 Championship.
Five East Asian national teams made up of players born on or after Jan. 1, 2002, are competing in the group, with Taiwan hosting all the group matches at Fu Jen Catholic University Stadium in New Taipei City.
In Monday’s second contest, Brunei’s Hirman Abdul Latip fired the visitors ahead 1-0 early with a long-range volley.
Photo: Courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
The hosts tried to battle back, but were denied repeatedly throughout most of the match.
With five minutes remaining, second-half substitute Lin Chun-kai found the net with a turnaround strike just inside the 18-yard box for the equalizer.
Deep into stoppage-time, striker Yang Shen-kai outpaced two defenders to collect a long pass and chip over advancing Brunei goalkeeper Riyan Aiman for the dramatic winner, leaving the national team’s players and fans celebrating at the whistle.
“When the pass, which was headed into my path, came in, I raced on to get past the defenders into the box. I knew where the ball was going and expected the goalie to rush out.” Yang said. “I wanted to chip it over him and I struck the ball well. It went over into the net, exactly where I wanted it to go.”
“The moment the ball went in, I was ecstatic. It was the first time I scored a goal in stoppage-time, and it really felt great to win a game that way,” said Yang, a student at National Hualien Vocational High School of Agriculture.
“We played much better after the intermission by making adjustments, changing our pace to penetrate more into the opposition zone. The two second-half substitutes injected vigor and energy into our team, which helped us find the equalizer late and get the eventual winner in stoppage-time,” said Reiji Hirata, the Japanese head coach of Taiwan’s U-16 team.
On the opening day of Group F play on Saturday, Taiwan’s offense wasted numerous chances in falling to a 2-0 defeat to Hong Kong.
Connor Tong and Yat Wong scored within a minute of each other 10 minutes after the intermission to pick up the win for the visitors.
The other match on the opening day saw Brunei thrash Macau 4-0.
Taiwan next take on group favorites North Korea at 7pm on Friday, while Hong Kong are to face Brunei at 3pm.
North Korea are expected to be formidable foes for the hosts, as they demolished Macau 10-0 in their first Group F match on Monday, with Ri Jo-guk and Ri Yong-gwang each scoring a hat-trick.
Brunei’s defense will be tested to the limit today, when they go up against North Korea at 3pm, followed by Hong Kong against Macau at 7pm.
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