Taiwan’s hopes of qualifying for the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in 32 years were dealt a blow on Sunday after they lost to the Philippines in dramatic fashion in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Asian Cup.
The Philippines defeated Taiwan 4-3 on penalties after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw and neither side scored in 30 minutes of extra-time.
Taiwan went down 1-0 just after halftime when Philippines midfielder Quinley Quezada opened the scoring, but a brilliant shot in the top-right corner just over the hand of Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel by Zhuo Li-ping evened the match in the 82nd minute.
Photo courtesy of the CTFA
After each side made three of their first five penalty-kicks, Zhou missed her attempt and Philippines forward Sarina Bolden converted to send her side into the semi-finals to face South Korea.
Taiwan can still grab a spot at next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand if they take top spot in a round-robin tournament with two of the other quarter-final losers — Thailand and Vietnam — who they play on Friday and Sunday respectively.
The other side ousted in the quarter-finals — Australia — are already assured of a spot as cohosts.
After the game, Taiwan head coach Kazuo Echigo said that he was disappointed, but still determined to motivate his team for the matches to come.
“Right now, it’s pretty hard to switch into a positive mindset,” Echigo said. “However, we still have the ability to go to the World Cup. Everyone did what they needed to do until the end and did their best. So we just need to focus on the next match.”
Taiwan had a good chance of winning the game, but ended up playing in too much of a hurry, Zhuo said.
“But the game is over now, we will go all out for the next game,” she said.
Taiwan captain Wang Hsiang-huei said that she appreciated all the fans who supported the national team by staying up to watch the game.
“The road to the World Cup is difficult, but we will try our best to reach that goal,” Wang said.
Taiwan’s only previous appearance at a Women’s World Cup finals came in its inaugural edition in 1991, when the national team advanced to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Philippines coach Alen Stajcic hailed his side’s qualification as a “once-in-a-lifetime” achievement that could inspire a new generation of players.
It is the Philippines’ first-ever qualification for a major global soccer finals in either the men’s or women’s game and Stajcic, who was appointed in November last year, believes it could have a positive impact on children throughout the nation.
“It’s an unbelievable achievement by the group, it’s a moment in history for the country and no one can ever take that away from the group, it’s a new bar that’s been set,” the Australian said. “Now every young kid, girl and boy, back in the Philippines knows they can be inspired and get to the World Cup themselves. I know the group is really proud of each other, but I know they’re even more proud that they’ve inspired the next generation.”
“I’m not even worried about the semi-final at the moment,” Stajcic said. “I usually wouldn’t say that, but we’ve just qualified for the World Cup and we’re going to enjoy that. It’s a remarkable achievement, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime, one that’s never been done before. So you just really have to soak up these moments.”
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