The Taiwan men’s soccer team will try to put the recent sacking of their manager and several teammates behind them when they take on Indonesia in the first of their AFC Asian Cup qualification playoff matches at 8pm in Thailand today.
Controversy put Taiwan in crisis mode ahead of the important encounter in Buriram City, in Thailand’s northeast Isan region, with rumors that some players are discontented with the sudden banishment of their manager and teammates.
The CTFA governing body called up three Taipower players — forward Ko Yu-ting, midfielder Lin Chang-lun and goalkeeper Chiu Yu-hung — atfter over the weekend announcing that it was suspending manager Henry Von, and dismissing Chen Hao-wei, Yu Chia-huang, Pai Shao-yu and Tuan Hsuan.
Photo courtesy of the Chinese Taipei Football Association
The trio reached Buriram earlier this week, in time to complete COVID-19 quarantine procedures, the CTFA said.
The CTFA last week reviewed an investigation into reports that players had disregarded COVID-19 prevention regulations by going out to drink twice on one day in August and once last month.
The news is a big blow to the national squad, which needs stability and good leadership after losing all eight matches, scoring no competition points and placing last in Group B of the AFC Asia Zone qualifiers for next year’s FIFA World Cup.
Von only took on the job in February last year, replacing Louis Lancaster, who was dismissed in December 2019.
Von’s assistant, Yeh Hsien-chung, is to serve as interim manager for the team’s two playoff matches against Indonesia at the Buriram Stadium.
The second game is sceduled for Monday at 9pm.
Von did not control the players under his charge and did not handle disciplinary problems properly, which might have led to further drinking incidents while the team trained in Kaohsiung over the past two months, the CTFA said.
However, Von hit back, saying that some of the allegations were not true and he was denied the opportunity to give an explanation.
He had asked for a more thorough internal probe, so that he and the players could present evidence and give their side of story, he said.
Von slammed the CTFA, saying that its actions would disrupt the players and staff ahead of important international matches.
It would negatively impact player confidence and team morale, he said.
Despite his dismissal, Von has asked fans to support to Taiwan.
He also asked the players not to quit, saying that anything can happen in a game, and Taiwanese soccer must move forward.
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
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
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their