REFUSING to waver until the end, Chinese Taipei salvaged a 2-2 draw against a gritty Macau side last night at the start of the Paulino Alcantara Peace Cup at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The Taiwanese, who wound up third behind Hong Kong and the Philippines when they hosted the tournament last year in Kaohsiung, needed to come back from a goal down twice to rescue a point from a match they were fancied to win.
Skipper Yang Chao-hsun was credited for the equalizer—an 89th minute penalty—as the Taiwanese averted the upset.
With the two teams dropping two points from their opening match, the result bodes well for the Philippines, which was slated to face Guam last night.
Macau has yet to post a single point in the three-year history of the tournament formerly known as the Long Teng Cup. And the Taiwanese dictated the pace early on, but lacked the cutting edge to break down their opponents.
Macau, however, took advantage of some slack defending at the stroke of halftime with Ricardo Torrao firing home from 10 yards.
The Taiwanese equalized three minutes after halftime with midfielder Lo Chi-en stroking home from just inside the box.
Macau again grabbed the upper hand when Chan Kin Seng headed home following a good cross from the right from Iuri Capelo in the 57th minute.
Chinese-Taipei still enjoyed plenty of possession, although the Taiwanese were almost left undone when Macau’s Sio Ka Un burst into the box to shoot from close range only for Pan Wen-chieh to deny him.
Macau was left to pay for missing its chances as Taiwan got a late penalty because of handball. Hsun stepped in to take the shot, firing low past Macau’s Ho Man Fai.