RP absorbs 2 nd defeat, bows to Chinese Taipei

Host Team Philippines yielded to Chinese Taipei, 1-4, to absorb its second defeat in the Asian Football Confederation Under-16 Group E Qualifier yesterday at the Pana-ad Stadium football pitch.
Despite the loss, national team head coach Glenn Ramos remained optimistic that the RP XI squad will be able to pull off a surprise in their remaining two games, against Indonesia tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. and against Bangladesh , Friday.
“The boys showed a big improvement in the game against the Chinese as compared to our first game against the Japanese,” Ramos said.
He reiterated that it was the lack of exposure on international matches that made the RP team an underdog in the tournament, stressing that in two years time, the same Philippine team will do better in Under-19 competitions.
Still, Ramos praised his wards for coming up with a good performance against Chinese Taipei as they managed to redeem themselves with the lone goal scored by Allen Shane Belera of Don Bosco Technical Institute in Victorias City in the 92 nd minute.
“I told them before the game to keep on attacking and they responded well. Hopefully, we will win in our remaining two games,” Ramos said.
Chinese Taipei broke the ice in the 8 th minute courtesy of forward Yu-Ting Ko with Meng-Che Lee making 2-0 in the 14th. Midfielder Kun-Huei Shih's made it a tall order for the RP team to play catch up in the second half by booting in Taipei 's 3 rd goal in the 40 th for a 3-0 margin at halftime.
Forward Meng-Che Lee iced the game for the visiting Chinese in the 47 th .
Taipei head coach Chun-Chih Chen said Team Philippines played well and their performance has improved since the opening game against Japan .
Not leaving anything to chances, Chen said he told his players to stick to their game plan and execute their strategies to prevail over the host team.
He added that Japan is the strongest team in the tournament and they are looking forward to their match-up tomorrow at 2 p.m.

Source : Visayan Daily Star