INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines - Chinese-Taipei dealt the Philippines a 4-1 beating Monday night as the hosts absorbed their second loss in the Asian Football Confederation Under-16 Group E qualifying tournament at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City.

Still reeling from a 0-12 crushing to Japan last Saturday, the Filipinos yielded three first-half goals that all but wrapped up the victory for the Taiwanese, who got two goals from striker Lee Meng-che.

Allen Shane Belera scored a consolation goal for the Filipinos two minutes into added time in the second half.

?I told them before the game to keep on attacking and they responded well,? said RP coach Glenn Ramos, whose squad will face Indonesia Tuesday and Bangladesh on Friday.

?Hopefully, we will win in our remaining two games.?

The Japanese lead the group with six points, after posting a 6-0 rout of Bangladesh Monday night.

Only the top two teams from the group will qualify for the main tournament at a still undetermined venue next year.