An annual football festival aimed at building Taiwan’s ties with the international community closed with Taiwan clinching the women’s title and the Haitian team defending its men’s title on Sunday.
The Taiwan women’s team topped Honduras in a shootout after playing to a 1-1 draw. It was the best result achieved by the Taiwan women’s team since it made its debut in the event in 2020.
Taiwan captain Tseng Pin-yun (曾品云) said the team’s performance has steadily improved since it first took part in the event, culminating in a championship this year, according to a statement by the event’s co-organizer, the Taiwan Digital Diplomacy Association (TDDA).
She hoped the team’s players will continue to improve and get more Taiwanese interested in football, Tseng said, according to the TDDA.
In the men’s finals, Haiti edged Taiwan 3-2 in a penalty shootout after neither team scored a goal in regulation. The Haitian men’s team also won the title last year.
Noel Lerick Sona, Haiti’s captain, said that when Haiti first competed five years ago, it had the weakest team, but it has been able to learn from its mistakes and work harder to rise to the top, according to the TDDA.
Haiti’s ambassador to Taiwan, Roudy Stanley Penn, who watched the match, said the friendship between Taiwan and Haiti on the field showed how the World Cup Taiwan links all the countries together, according to the TDDA.
The two-day World Cup Taiwan 2022 that opened Saturday at Fu Jen Catholic University Stadium in New Taipei consisted of six women’s teams and 12 men’s teams made up of students and expats from Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, Haiti, Spain, Eswatini, Nicaragua, Paraguay, the United States, Italy, and Saint Lucia along with teams from Taiwan.
An Arab team consisting of players from various Arab countries also participated in an exhibition competition on the opening day.
World Cup Taiwan was organized by the TDDA, Taiwanese journalist and lawyer Fernando Ramos, and the Taiwan Football Development Association to promote international exchanges and create mutual understanding and mutual trust between the people of Taiwan and its international community.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel