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| Lin Ming-Wei celebrates with Wu Chun-Ching after delivering the win for Chinese Taipei right before fulltime. RM Chua/PFF |
MANILA—Chinese Taipei stole a 3-2 road win right at the death against the Philippine Azkals on Monday night that capped an impressive two-match stand against Southeast Asian squads.
Lin Ming-Wei broke the hearts of much of the 3,758 fans inside the Rizal Memorial Stadium as he struck the winning goal for Chinese Taipei just before stoppage time.
Chinese Taipei struck first in an unconventional way in the second minute as Wu Yen-Shu's free-kick hit Mike Ott's head but still got past Neil Etheridge for the goal which stunned the crowd early on.
The Azkals, however, equalized when Ott struck a penalty in the 13th minute after he was fouled by Wang Ruei inside the box.
The hosts then took the lead in the 38th minute when Patrick Reichelt, who still got the start despite getting hurt badly last Thursday against Nepal, scored from the left side of the penalty area.
However, from almost the same spot, Wu Yao-Hsing struck for Chinese Taipei in the 57th minute to make it 2-2.
Lin's heroics came right in the 90th minute when the ball went to him after Etheridge saved a teammate's initial attack.
Following a 2-2 draw at home against Thailand on Thursday night, Chinese Taipei, ranked 156th in the world, is expected to move up significantly in the FIFA rankings with the World Cup Qualifiers draw coming up.
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