Taiwan has the opportunity to qualify for the FIFA Women’s World Cup next year after a three-decade absence, with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) rallying public support for an all-important match tomorrow at the Women’s Asian Cup tournament in India.
Congratulating the Taiwanese team for their 5-0 win over Iran in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday, Tsai on Thursday wrote on Facebook: “Our women’s soccer turned on the firepower for this Year of the Tiger. We have won to advance into the final eight in this Asian Cup competition!”
“The next match is to take place on Sunday, Jan. 30. If we win, then we will qualify for the Women’s World Cup next year. Let us cheer our women’s national team, as they strive to qualify for the World Cup,” she wrote.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
Public Television Service (PTS) yesterday announced that it has obtained the right to broadcast live at 10pm on its PTS 3 network — or Channel 11 on most digital cable services — the quarter-final match against the Philippines that is to take place at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune.
The Taiwanese squad, also known as the “Blue Magpies,” will need a win to advance into the final four in this tourney, which would also give them automatic berth for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, to be cohosted by Australia and New Zealand.
If so, Taiwan would be returning for the first time since the 1991 Women’s World Cup hosted by China.
In that inaugural FIFA tourney, Taiwan survived as the third-place team in Group C, and made it to the knockout stage before bowing out. Taiwan got trounced by world soccer powers Italy and Germany, losing by 0-5 and 0-3 respectively, then rallied to beat Nigeria 2-0, before being trashed by the US 7-0 in the quarter-finals.
“We know soccer is not among the leading sports in Taiwan. President Tsai’s focus on us can help improve the environment for soccer, so we are all very happy to hear of our president’s support,” said striker Lai Li-chin (賴麗琴), who grabbed a hat-trick in the win over Iran.
“Our players are full of confidence after the win over Iran,” Taiwan’s Japanese manager Kazuo Echigo said. “We shall pick up training to strengthen team work, passing and ball control, because we are to face stronger opponents.”
Tomorrow presents quite a challenge for Taiwan, which have a full roster of Taiwanese-born players, while the Philippines have many Filipino-American players who play for US college teams.
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