Pak, Chinese Taipei clash in soccer after 50 years

LAHORE—Pakistan-Chinese Taipei clash in international soccer arena will be recorded after 50 years when both the teams will face each other in the second AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers (Group-A) in April, 2008.
The Chinese Taipei national football team is the official name given by FIFA to the national football team of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The first match between two nations was held in third Asian Games fifty years ago when Taiwan, representing China, brought off 3-1 win at Tokyo on 25 May 1958.
Chinese Taipei will host four-team Group-A, where other teams are last edition’s runner-up Sri Lanka and little-known Guam.
The venue for the coming Pakistan-Chinese Taipei clash and other five matches will be Chungshan Soccer Stadium, located in Taipei. The stadium’s capacity is slightly above 20,000 and is a football specific stadium.
Basketball and baseball are the favorites of Chinese Taipei but the nation has actually had more success in football traditionally. Chinese Taipei’s football has a glorious history-conquering the Asian Games twice in a row, in 1954 and 1958, and qualifying for the 1960 Olympic Games,” said Taipei-based Chinese Taipei Football Association’s Secretary General Der Chia Lin.
FIFA-ranked 163 Pakistan is above all three teams in monthly FIFA World Ranking, five placed above Chinese Taipei (168). Sri Lanka and Guam are placed 167 and 201 respectively until 13 February 2008 when new ranking will be released.
Sixteen teams have been divided into four groups, with only the group toppers qualifying to join North Korea, Turkmenistan, India and Myanmar in the eight-team final round. Besides Chinese Taipei, the Group stage qualifying rounds will also be held in Nepal, Kyrgyzstan and Philippines.
India were awarded the final phase after Chinese Taipei failed to conform to the AFC guidelines and Thailand expressed inability to host the event at the eleventh hour.
The 2008 AFC Challenge Cup final round will be held from July 30 to August 10 and All India Football Federation (AIFF) has proposed two
- New Delhi and Hyderabad - to conduct the ournament.
An AFC delegation would arrive in India on Saturday to finalise the venue after inspecting the infrastructure at the two cities.
“Asian Football Confederation (AFC) launched the competition two years ago in efforts to develop the game in the continent’s ‘emerging’ football nations. Unlike the AFC Presidents Cup, the AFC Challenge Cup is a competition for national teams.”—Agencies