TSG Tainan are aiming to extend their dominance in the Taiwan Football Premier League for a fifth straight season, while Taichung Blue Whale are seeking to defend the women’s title as the soccer season kicks off this weekend.
Winning their fourth consecutive title last year, TSG are facing daunting challenges to prolong their winning streak due to losing top-rated striker Ange Kouame and other key players.
Ivory Coast-born Kouame, a naturalized citizen who has played for Taiwan in FIFA World Cup qualifiers, won the league’s Most Valuable Player honor last season, but left to join Chinese second-tier team Liaoning Tieren.
Photo: Wu Meng-ju, Taipei Times
TSG’s midfield general Alim Zumakulov of Russia also left for greener pastures, joining Bhutan’s Thimphu City, while Brazilian forward Jean Moser also departed.
TSG have signed two South Koreans and one Estonian to replace the departed foreign players.
TSG begin their season at home to Taichung Futuro on Sunday at 3.30pm at the Tainan City Football Stadium, while Taiwan Leopard Cat, last season’s runners-up, visit Ming Chuan University in Taoyuan at 6.30pm.
Sunday’s other openers see AC Taipei take on Taipower at the University of Taipei in Tianmu and Hang Yuan face promoted Vikings in Taoyuan.
The most prominent off-season move saw Vikings sign Haitian striker Benchy Estama from Taichung Futuro.
Leopard Cat manager Chiang Mu-tsai at a news conference in Taipei on Monday said that his team would fight for every point to improve on last season, and that all his players are focused on dethroning TSG.
“But we know it is very tough to compete against the champions, because they are backed by TSG, one of Taiwan’s biggest conglomerates with hundreds of billions in annual revenue. So they have deep pockets and are able to buy the best players,” he said.
“We are like most teams in the league, we need sponsors, and to get support from the grassroots and cooperate with sports academies,” said Chiang, known as the “evergreen head coach” after being in charge of the club since 1988.
The club’s previous corporate backer Tatung, facing takeover attempts and power struggles, terminated its sponsorship of the club in 2021 and it is now administered by two Taipei City councilors, Lin Liang-chun who heads the Taipei City Football Association and Miao Po-ya.
The women’s season kicks off on Saturday, with defending champions Taichung Blue Whale taking on Hang Yuan at 4pm in New Taipei City, while Taipei Bravo face Taoyuan Mars at 4pm at the Hualien County Sports Stadium, followed by Hualien City taking on Kaohsiung Attackers.
Blue Whale defensive anchor Pitsamai Sornsai said her side would be looking to retain their title.
“We will strive to play in a good style, to produce higher-quality games for the fans to enjoy,” she said.
After four seasons in Taiwan, the Thailand international can now speak fluent Mandarin.
“It is important for me to able communicate with my teammates, but also for my daily life in Taiwan, so I forced myself to talk only in Mandarin with friends and when going to stores,” she said. “If I do not understand some words, then I ask what they mean. So now I can better understand, and can speak clearly with the coaches and other players.”
Nottingham Forest FC are to go into the Europa League play-off round after a 4-0 win over Ferencvaros TC on Thursday, while Celtic FC secured their place in the knockout phase with a victory over FC Utrecht. Aston Villa FC finished second in the league phase after recovering from two goals down to beat FC Red Bull Salzburg 3-2 with their spot in the last 16 already assured. Forest stood an outside chance of climbing into the top eight going into the final round of matches, but needed to beat Robbie Keane’s Ferencvaros and rely on other results going their way. Sean Dyche’s
HEATED RIVALRY: The pair had met 14 times previously, with Sabalenka winning eight of the encounters and entering the final as the favorite to take the title Elena Rybakina took revenge over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win a nail-biting Australian Open final yesterday and clinch her second Grand Slam title. The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2 hours, 18 minutes. It was payback after the Belarusian Sabalenka won the 2023 final between two of the hardest hitters in women’s tennis. The ice-cool Rybakina, 26, who was born in Moscow, adds her Melbourne triumph to her Wimbledon win in 2022. It was more disappointment in a major final for Sabalenka, who won the US Open
Denver superstar Nikola Jokic returned from a 16-game injury absence to post a 31-point, 12-rebound double-double on Friday and propel the Nuggets to a 122-109 NBA victory over the Los Angeles Clippers. Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic had not played since suffering a bone bruise in the left knee he hyperextended in a game against Miami on Dec. 29 last year. The Serbian big man did not miss a beat. He led all scorers, connecting on eight of 11 shots from the field, and also handed out five assists with three steals while playing just 24 minutes, 32 seconds as the
BATTERED AND BRUISED: Alcaraz suffered a cramp in the third set, but was allowed treatment despite Zverev’s protests, and continued on to win in five-and-a-half hours An ailing Carlos Alcaraz battled past Alexander Zverev yesterday in five epic sets to reach his first Australian Open final and move within a match of becoming the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. The world No. 1 outlasted the German third seed 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (3/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-5 over a titanic 5 hours, 27 minutes in hot conditions to head to tomorrow’s title match. He only narrowly avoided crashing out after a huge fright at 4-4 in the third set when he pulled up in pain with what appeared to be cramp. He was allowed to have treatment
RSS