By Michael Christie

Rescheduled to 7pm for arcane reasons unknown, the Bai Ling pitch had slightly longer to recover from the rain but it was still a wet, stodgy surface. Covered in sand, there were no puddles and it was not too slippery, but the bobbles made for some unpredictable bounces in a competitive match.

Without Ross Conlon’s customary input – his focus and enthusiasm was missed – it was left to Dan Calvert to give the pre-match team talk. He decided on a traditional 4-4-2 formation, with a back line of Dale Neal in goal, Matt Wharton at right-back, Brian McGuinness and Tom Clarke a central defensive pairing and Mamadi Colley at left-back. In midfield, Luis Mayorga was on the right, Alex Ramirez and Michael Christie were in the middle and Brian Fitzpatrick was on the left. Neao King and Dan Calvert were united up front.

The opposition mostly consisted of some obviously not fully mature but still well-fed schoolboys, bolstered by no less than two one-time City players, Jamaican Oliver Harley and New Zealander Richard Fisher.

The first ten minutes were a little tentative from both sides. Still, City pushed up more solidly and so had the better of this crucial period. City worked hard to close down space, while International had not yet found their confidence or their range.

Some good build-up play from City released Luis down the right flank. Having got behind the line, he crossed on the ground for Dan to run onto at the near post. Dan managed to push the ball and go outside the outstretched foot of the defender at the near post but the foot was stretched out quite long and Dan went to ground with a thud. In spite of complaints from the International defence, the referee was sure it was a penalty and so up stepped Brian McGuinness. His firmly struck kick beat the keeper and City was 1-0 up. A few minutes later City came forward again, though this time the keeper gathered the ball safely in his arms. Ah! The ball is never safe. While his defence was still pushing up out of the penalty box, with their eyes fixed somewhere up the field, he decided to throw the ball out to one of them. Unluckily, it hit the back heel of an unwitting defender and bounced back towards Dan who, alive to the opportunity, beat everybody else to the ball and clinically clipped it past the keeper.

International was a little shell-shocked to be 2-0 down with only twenty minutes gone. They were unlucky but didn’t give up playing football. Deciding to take the game to City, they were beginning to look dangerous. It was uncomfortable for City at times in midfield, though with Matt, Brian McGuinness, Tom and Mamadi composed at the back, International only managed a few threatening moves and no clear-cut chances. The offside trap worked well for City. Going forward, City had some good spells in possession, with Brian Fitzpatrick on the left, Alex Ramirez in the middle and Luis on the right all instrumental in some good link up play with Neao King and Dan Calvert up front. City’s third goal came when Dan latched onto a through ball in the inside right position and passed the ball inside to Neao, who had the speed to take the ball outside the defender and the composure to finish from a tight angle. While City was good going forward, International was able to find space for breakaway attacks. The youngsters were also becoming more confident in their skills, and while they sometimes lost the ball by attempting too much they also embarrassed some City players somewhat. As half-time approached, the game took on an ‘end to end’ character. Luckily for City, there was another goal. Alex Ramirez in the inside left channel set up a perfectly weighted ball for Neao to run onto on the edge of the box. Neao took one touch and again sped outside the oncoming defender to finish from another tight angle. The ball found the same spot just inside the far post for Neao both times!

4-0 up at half-time was not an accurate reflection of the balance of play, perhaps, but City had clearly won the contests in the areas of the pitch that mattered. A pleasant surprise was in store forTaipeiCityat half-time. After four years away and just two days after Ross had left the country, a veteran of Taipei City FC’s inaugural BML title-winning season, Omar Malcolm was back!

One change was made at half-time, with Oumar Yassouf coming on for Brian Fitzpatrick. The first ten minutes of the second half were subdued from International, and City looked to press forward. Possibly one of the best City moves of the season involved only Luis Mayorga and Dan Calvert interchanging passes all the way up the right flank, culminating in a left footed effort from Dan only just going the wrong side of the post. However, International gradually began to pick up more momentum. City took off the tiring Christie and the sterling Wharton for Daniel Wilkinson and Stoyan Todorov ten minutes into the second half. Stoyan was a straight swap for Matt at right-back, while Danny came into central defense allowing Brian McGuinness to go into the vacated central midfield position. City enjoyed some good football but with nothing to lose Continental were pressing forward now with gusto and making life difficult. They missed a few decent chances including one point-blank tap in, before they got a breakthrough goal. The crucial difference was that they were now finding space and getting behind the City defence. Sensing blood, they were more adventurous in their attacks, launching more balls behind the City defence. Only some brilliant last-ditch defending by Tom saved City at two particularly chary moments. Dale also distinguished himself with a brilliant save from a long-distance free-kick. International were not to be denied a second goal, though, which came through sustained pressure. Malcolm came on for Luis at around this time, with twenty or so minutes to play. At 4-2, City was not sure whether to attack or defend while International was only attacking. A hopeful punt from distance was enough to give International another goal. The last ten minutes were going to be tense for City. In the end, though, an excellent corner kick from Alex was met by the head of Tom, who ensured a final 5-3 victory.

In conclusion, this was a hard game for City. International will surely take points off good teams so City can be thankful for making the most of their chances when they had them.

TaipeiCity FC 5 – 3 International

Before I begin the report proper, let me just say why I think we were invited to the tournament. I believe we were brought in to play the role of whipping boys. We were paraded as the International Union of Brothers, but with only a couple of weeks notice we could hardly be expected to play as a well-oiled Futsal team, especially against high-level specialists in the game. The fact that we actually played some good Futsal speaks volumes for everybody involved.

After finding the venue late, borrowing some socks and some frantic negotiations concerning shirts and team colours, the International Union of Brothers were ready to take on Taipei City in the tournament curtain-raiser. Led out by Dede Costa to a fanfare of delirious excitement from the Taiwanese girls in the stands who’d come to see the handsome foreigners, the IUB meant business. The starting five comprised Dale in goal, Ricardo and Yunusa in defence, and Ebou and Dede up front. On the bench, Dawda, Karim, Onur, Ross, Christian and Christie proved the IUB had strength in depth. That said, Taipei City had at least ten substitutes to IUB’s five. This was obviously not going to be an easy game.

Straight after the whistle, the experienced Futsallers looked to keep the ball and work some openings. Taipei City must have had some of the best Taiwanese Futsal talent in their ranks, so they were able to control the first few minutes. The IUB defended doggedly, though, so City was getting a trifle frustrated. (Remember, in this report the Taiwanese team are City.) City managed to get a lucky goal on about five minutes, which calmed their nerves, but there was to be no capitulation from the IUB. Although clearly dominant, City had to defend well against enterprising forward play at times from Onur, Dede, Dawda, Ebou, Christian, Yunusa, Karim and Ross. Ricardo and Christie were more defensive and did some good support work. The Taiwanese played some excellent futsal but only managed two more goals before half-time. These were good, well-deserved goals, it has to be admitted. Ironically, just before the half-time whistle the defensive Christie was put through on goal after an excellent passing move (from… sorry, I’ve forgotten!) and he put a toe to nudge the ball slowly past the City keeper. 3-1 down at half-time, the IUB had put up a really good fight and proved themselves not just an ordinarily talented group of expat players.

The second half was again an uphill struggle for the IUB. Dale sustained an injured finger making a great save, and later he sprained his ankle rushing out quickly to deny City an otherwise certain goal. The IUB had some good shots on target again, but facing the fresher legs of City’s numerous substitutes, began to tire. Dede shot into the top corner to score a brilliant goal halfway through the second half to make the score 6-2. Unfortunately, fatigue was a factor in the last ten minutes, so City were able to rattle in some more goals. The final score was something like 10-2 to the Taiwanese.

The next game of the day saw the flamboyantly outfitted professional team from Malaysia, Figos Juniors, take on Yung An, from mainland China. This was a dreadfully one-sided encounter which saw the Malaysians demolish an obviously shell-shocked Yung An. The question was: were the Malaysians really good, or was Yung An City really poor?

At lunch-time, just before their game with the Thai team, the popular IUB players posed for photographs with some of the local Taiwanese girls who’d come to watch and give them their support. This was just as well, because the Thai team brought a large contingent of screaming fans themselves! Though less mobile and less skilled than Taipei City, the Thais nevertheless obviously had a good amount of futsal experience. Slow to warm up, the IUB fell behind quite early, and then conceded another. After finding their feet, as it were, the IUB started to threaten. Great goals from Dede, Dawda, Ebu and Karim, I think, were only the natural reward for good passing play. The game was delicately poised at 4-4 and in truth IUB were showing they were the better footballers, but the Thais, buoyed by their supporters, managed to score seven goals altogether. Final score 7-4. This was a game that if we had to play with a little bit more Futsal experience I’ve no doubt we would win.

Late in the game, Dede suffered a nasty gash to the eye after he was sent crashing to the ground by a sliding tackle. This was a great injustice for our best player on the day, and meant that after a good, long time in Taiwan, Dede had to take an injury home. He was unable to play any further part in the tournament and was greatly missed. (Personally, I feel Dede is the best all-round player I have played with or against in my time in Taiwan. Good luck, Dede. We know you will keep playing football.)

There was one more game on Saturday, I think, and there was a game or two on Sunday morning, but what these were I don’t know! (I seem to remember Figos Juniors giving the Thais a futsal lesson, but I can’t remember when this was. Let me tell you old age catches up with everybody!) At 1pm on Sunday, the IUB reconvened for action against Yung An. Both teams were looking to taste victory. This was a slightly different squad from Saturday’s players. Without Ricardo, Onur and Dede, City now had Brian McGuinness, Tom Clarke and Gassey (apologies if I’ve spelt your name wrong) from Nicaragua. Mindful of Christie’s advanced age, Ross handed him the captaincy for the day. Christie tried to look the part but arguably lacked Dede’s gravitas.

The IUB started slowly against Yung An and again conceded first, but then sheer ability asserted itself and the IUB fairly took Yung An to the cleaners. Yunusa, Ebu, Dawda, Brian and Tom were excellent in this game, and Christie, Karim, Gassey and Ross all made valuable contributions, too. The IUB were able to play quick passing football to the wide positions, from where the ball was regularly bulleted to the the far post. This tactic had been effective the day before against the Thais, but now it was looking much slicker. There was a hat-trick for Tom and he scored the same goal each time: Yunusa or Brian to Ebu, Ebu to Dawda on the right, and Dawda to Tom at the far post on the left. There were other great goals from Ebu, Dawda, Brian and Yunusa. With just a few minutes left on the clock, the IUB were 8-4 up but then Yung An staged an admirable come-back. With only one minute to go they’d got back to 8-6, and then, with just seventeen seconds remaining, 8-7. Ross called a time-out to settle some nerves and agree some tactics to see us through the game safely, and so eventually Yung-An were denied. It had been a highly enjoyable game for everybody in the arena.

The next game was between the Thais and Taipei City. The Thais were no match for the Taiwanese in this game. For what it’s worth, the Taiwanese scored more against the Thais than against the IUB, if my memory serves me correctly. (But that’s hardly guaranteed!) The watching IUB players argued amongst themselves good-humoredly about which team was better, Taipei City or Figos Juniors. We were about to play the Juniors in our last game.

Most of the IUB players had already played a full ninety minutes of eleven-a-side earlier in the day as well as the game against Yung An, so were not fresh coming into an extremely demanding contest. Indeed, all the outfield IUB starters had played a full match. Still, this was not evident from the first fifteen minutes. Dale (an unsung hero and solid presence all weekend), Yunusa, Tom, Ebu and Brian fully matched the professionals from Malaysia. The expressions on the faces of the Malaysians betrayed uneasiness for the first five minutes, as they found themselves 1-0 down to the amateurs and being held at bay. They managed to squeeze in a goal after six or seven minutes but they still looked disbelieving that they weren’t able to score more.  The Malaysians looked seriously flustered.

With ten minutes gone, the score was 1-1 and the IUB still looked solid. The Malaysians tried everything, but it was all in vain as they were continually frustrated by last-ditch tackles and great saves from Dale. The nods of approbation from the Taiwanese coaches was gratifying as the IUB played precisely in both defence and attack. The Malaysians finally posted a goal on fifteen minutes, by which time they’d used at least three or four substitutes. Now Ross decided to rotate some of the IUB players, with the result that IUB conceded three more goals before the half-time whistle!

The second half saw some more great performances from Dale, Yunusa, Tom, Ebu, Brian, Dawda, Karim, Ross, Christie and the just arrived Gassey, but the IUB couldn’t quite get a break-through. We came close a few times, though, with Dawda and Gassey in particular. Eventually, the futsal fitness, experience and expertise of the Malaysians told as they scored four more goals. 9-1 was the final score and while you have to say the Malaysians had greater resources (including more substitutes and fresher legs) the performances of the IUB players, Dale, Yunusa, Tom, Brian, Ebu and Dawda in particular, deserved only praise. What a weekend!

The final between Taipei City and Figos RSA FC was held on the Monday. Dale, Gassey, Ross, Ebu, Yunusa and Dawda were all in attendance to watch a real top class game of Futsal. It ended 2-2 which meant the Malaysia league champions for the past two years Figos RSA FC won the tournament on goal difference.

The five star dinner on the Monday night in the Grand Formosa was attended by all the Taipei Futsal Association, the teams and their fans, dignitaries from the Taiwanese government and members of the press. The IUB boys were bombarded by kids wanting to take their picture with them, it might even take a few hard games in the BML to get everybody grounded again. Much to all our surprise we were awarded the tournament Fair Play award for our endeavors, the announcement was met by a rapturous cheer from the attending crowd, all in all a fantastic end to a memorable weekend, if you can overlook the irony of the sight of Ross collecting a fair play award!

The British Deaflympic men’s soccer team beat Businessman’s League champions Taipei City FC 3-0 in a warmup match in Tianmu yesterday. A 4:30pm kick off on a pitch half covered in shadow with a gentle breeze blowing were about as ideal conditions as the teams could have wished for considering the recent heat.

Photograph by Ashton Jean-Pierre on behalf of the BSLBT

Taipei City, a team consisting of expats living and working in Taiwan, started the brighter and had the best of the early chances. Steve Raymond went close after 15 minutes with a shot from the right wing that beat Great Britain keeper Craig Rathey but went just wide of the post. Raymond again rocked the generally solid British defense five minutes later with a well-hit strike from a corner that again whistled past the post.

Great Britain were getting more into the game and Jon Evans went close a minute later with a shot from the edge of the penalty area. The deadlock was broken in the 27th minute when the visitor’s Peter Wood scored with a shot from 25m.

Tim Murphy went close for City from a corner, but his header went just wide. Then Eddie Painter produced a good save from Rathey to leave Great Britain 1-0 up at halftime.

Britain’s Daniel Hogan started the second half with a bang, when his shot rebounded off the bar in the first minute, as the Brits pushed forward.

Photograph by Ashton Jean-Pierre on behalf of the BSLBT

City got no joy from the tight British defense, although substitute Dan Calvert caused some problems, sending a shot just over the bar after 60 minutes.

Five minutes later Britain scored again, Evans finishing the counterattack in style.

There was a fright for the six-time Deaflympic champions after 75 minutes when a heavy challenge caused some consternation but they ended the game with a bang scoring their third three minutes from time.

The final score was hard on City but it was a good workout for Great Britain, looking to retain their title in the Deaflympics soccer tournament starting on Friday at Yingfeng in Taipei.

www.waakao.com

Just ahead of Taipei’s first international sporting event, the Deaf Olympics; one of the Taipei’s premier football clubs will face off against the reigning gold medallists in the games, Great Britain.  Although, the countries in the British Isles have been eluded by any kind of silverware since 1966 in World or European tournaments; in the Deaf Olympics they are champions.  Great Britain’s Blind Olympic team has won in the games a total of six times and is the current champion.

Great Britain will start their campaign in the Deaf Olympics on Sept. 4th against Japan at the Yingfeng fields.  However, before this opening match they will face a tough practice match against Taipei City FC.  Taipei City FC were last years winners of the Taipei Businessman’s League which plays regularly during the months from October to May on the Bailing Bridge field in Shilin.  The team has a completely international team with players from Gambia, United States, Canada, Mexico, Czech Republic, Jamaica, Ireland, England and many other countries.  The team has played both foreign and locally based teams and has proven it’s ability which has earned it the opportunity to play against the Deaf Olympians.

Ross Conlon, captain of Taipei City says his team has been looking forward to the match and expects, “a very tough challenge from the 6 time champs.  It will definately be a very interesting match and a good challenge”  Confident that his team is well perepared for the match, his game plan is not to deviate too much from the succesful style of play that has brought them victories against local opponents. ” I don’t think we will change too much, we just have to keep it tight for the first thirty and see how it goes.”   This is not the first time that Taipei City FC has played a high level opponent as they play regular games against the Taiwanese National team.

The game will be played at the Taipei American School field in Tienmu with kick-off at 4:30pm on Saturday August 29th.

More information and a schedule of Deaf Olympic football games can be found here.

Photography Copyright UK Deaf Sports

See the Taipei Times report here.

This once-in-a-lifetime chance was definitely the highlight of this amateur footballer’s career.  (The Taiwan national team squad competes internationally as Chinese Taipei.)

Chinese Taipei showed their impressive speed and endurance against Taipei City FC. They were fast with their passes and physically fit. The highlight came in the 2nd half when City almost found the back of the net, but the score ended up 3-0 for the Taiwan National Team.  It was an honor to play against Taiwan’s finest and it was not a bad effort for a group of foreign amateurs living in Taiwan.

Lining up to shake hands w/ the Chinese Taipei National Team

Organizing after a difficult 1st half

Both squads pose together after the game

Taipei City FC founders Daniel Calvert, Spencer Pangborn, and Ross Conlon with Chinese Taipei national team coach Andy Chen