The Taiwan men’s national soccer team and manager Henry Vom are making preparations, including getting vaccinated for COVID-19, to fly to Kuwait tomorrow so that they can compete in the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
Earlier this week, Vom announced the 27 men who made the roster — mainly players from the Taiwan Football Premier League (TFPL), as well as a few additions that promise to fill out the squad.
While in Kuwait, Taiwan are to face other contenders in Group B of the Asian Football Confederation. They face Nepal on Thursday next week, group leaders Australia on June 7 and Kuwait on June 15.
Photo: Courtesy of the CTFA
Already eliminated — after being defeated in each of their five earlier qualifiers — Taiwan will look to salvage some national pride by obtaining some points in the upcoming matches.
“All the players have worked diligently in training and will put forth their best effort to win — and no one wants to lose,” CTFA secretary-general Fang Ching-jen said. “It is also the best chance for local players to prove themselves, giving fans a good display in Kuwait.”
Two additions to the national squad are naturalized citizen Yoshitaka Komori, who founded Taichung Futuro and has been in Taiwan since 2015, and Swedish-Taiwanese Miguel Sandberg, 18, who plays for Djursholm’s Under-19 team in Sweden.
Another overseas player is Emilio Estevez Tsai, who plays for Spanish third-division club Ourense CF. He was born in Canada to Taiwanese and Spanish parents, and played on the national team in 2019.
Stars from TFPL defending champions Tainan TSG (Taiwan Steel Group) feature prominently in the squad, including last season’s Most Valuable Player Wu Chun-ching, defender Chen Wei-chuan and goalkeeper Pan Wen-chieh.
TFPL runners-up Taipower FC are supplying firepower in forwards Kao Wei-chieh and Chen Chao-an, while Tatung FC are supplying goalkeeper Derek Shih and winger Pai Shao-yu.
Vom has called up eight Taichung Futuro players, including strikers Lee Mao and Wang Ruei, to join teammate Komori.
In other news, CTFA officials announced that Taipower player Lin Yueh-han has been suspended for two years for alleged match fixing.
The association’s Disciplinary Committee found that Lin had talked with players in the Land-Home NTUS (National Taiwan University of Sport) club about losing to Taipower in a match on May 17 last year, the CTFA said in a news release on Tuesday.
The players reportedly refused to help Lin throw the game. In their first win of the season, Land-Home NTUS had a shock 2-1 victory over Taipower — the top team at the time.
“There was no direct evidence that Lin’s actions affected the game’s outcome,” the CTFA said.
However, Lin was given the two-year ban for allegedly concealing the truth of his involvement from investigators, which was deemed a breach of player ethics, and attempting to improperly profit from his role as a player.
Media reports yesterday said that Lin has filed an appeal with the CTFA.
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