Taiwan’s international soccer aspirations once again face turbulent times, with officials under pressure to name a replacement at the top following last week’s abrupt resignation of national squad head coach Chen Kuei-jen.
The Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) has since been busy convening meetings and making consultations to find a new coach, as Taiwan need to be ready for an AFC Asian Cup two-legged qualifier against Cambodia in June.
In a surprise move on Tuesday last week, Chen announced that he was resigning to take responsibility for the team’s “shortcomings” in their qualifying campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Photo: Lin Tsung-wei, Taipei Times
Taiwan were eliminated ahead of their final Group F match, in which they were soundly beaten by Vietnam 4-1 in Hanoi on March 24. Taiwan lost every game home and away against their Group F opponents — Vietnam, Thailand and Iraq.
Chen’s squad finished with zero points, scoring five goals and letting in 19.
“I have put in my best efforts through the past three years, but the team still has some shortcomings. This is a group of outstanding players who have the desire to get better, but I am unable to lead them to a higher level. They need a head coach to push them up another level, to stimulate them with new challenges,” Chen wrote in his resignation letter.
He recommended that a foreign coach take over, one who can provide fresh ideas and professional training, such as in the areas of physical conditioning, specialized coaching for goalkeepers and game data analysis.
A former Taiwan international, 47-year-old Chen took over the national team in 2013.
However, some critics questioned his commitment to the cause as Chen continued as head coach of Taipower in the Intercity League, the nation’s top tier, a job he has held since 2004. For the past two years he has also served as head coach of the Kaohsiung side at the National Games.
The CTFA also intends to appoint him coach of Taiwan’s team at next year’s Universiade, which is being hosted by Taipei.
CTFA chairman Lin Cheng-yi said a selection committee would assess potential candidates to take over the national side and that a decision would be made soon, as the squad needs to start training for some international friendlies, the Asian Cup qualifiers and for the East Asian Cup.
CTFA officials said they would take Chen’s advice and look at coaches from overseas and that they might consider the return of Japan’s Toshiaki Imai, who coached Taiwan from 2005 to 2007.
However, officials admitted that due to the urgency, Imai might be just an interim solution while they look for a longer-term appointment.
Critics say they are unhappy with that plan, since Imai also had a 0-6 record and bringing the Japanese coach back would indicate that the CTFA and Taiwanese soccer are headed in the wrong direction, going back to the levels of 10 years ago.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
RSS