Taiwan's hopes of qualifying for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time in 32 years were dealt a blow Sunday after the women's national team lost to the Philippines in dramatic fashion in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup.
The Philippines defeated Taiwan 4-3 on penalty kicks after the two sides played to a 1-1 draw to crack the final four of the tournament being played in India in a bubble and secure one of the five automatic 2023 Women's World Cup spots up for grabs at the Asian Cup.
Taiwan went down 1-0 just after halftime when Philippine midfielder Quinley Quezada opened the scoring, but a brilliant shot in the top right corner just over the hand of Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel by Zhuo Li-ping (???) evened the match in the 82nd minute.
Neither team scored in extra time, but after each side made three of their first five penalty kicks, only Philippine forward Sarina Bolden could convert on the next try, sending the Philippines into the semifinals of the Asian Cup to face South Korea.
Taiwan can still grab a spot in the Women's World Cup if it takes the top spot in a round-robin tournament with two of the other Asian Cup quarterfinal losers - Thailand and Vietnam on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6, respectively.
The other team ousted in the final eight - Australia - is already assured of a spot in the 2023 Women's World Cup as a co-host of the tournament with New Zealand.
After the game, Taiwan's head coach Kazuo Echigo was disappointed but was still determined to motivate his team for the matches to come.
"Right now, it's pretty hard to switch into a positive mindset," said Kazuo. "However, we still have the ability to go to the World Cup. Everyone did what they needed to do till the end, and did their best. So we just need to focus on the next match."
Taiwan had a good chance of winning the game, but ended up playing a little in too much of a hurry, said Zhuo.
"But the game is over now, we will go all out for the next game," Zhuo said.
Taiwan's captain Wang Hsiang-huei (???) said she appreciated all the fans who supported the national team by staying up to watch the game.
"The road to the World Cup is difficult, but we will try our best to reach that goal," Wang said.
Taiwan's only previous appearance at a Women's World Cup Finals came in its inaugural edition in 1991, when the national team advanced to the quarterfinals.
A women's soccer pioneer in Asia, Taiwan is a three-time Asian champion, having won the title in 1977, 1979, and 1981.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel