After laboring for much of the first half, Taiwan overwhelmed Mongolia in their opening game at the EAFF prelims. In doing so, the Taiwanese men’s team have won back-to-back games for the first time since October 2023. Critically, a statement of intent was also made to hosts Hong Kong, who are next up for Taiwan.

Going into the game, team manager Gary White made a couple of big calls– notably starting Jhon Benchy over more established players– but the decisions were justified by the confident performance of his side.

For the first twenty minutes, Mongolia defended deeply, often putting all eleven men behind the ball. But gradually Taiwan began to assert themselves, starting when Wang Ching-ming almost scored after a great cross from Ange Kouamé. Soon afterwards, Chen Po-liang got open on a corner kick but his close-range header went narrowly wide.

The goal was coming and after a sustained spell of pressure, Taiwan finally took the lead. Having repelled yet another attack, Mongolia’s defense were slow to clear their lines, allowing Benchy to steal back possession. Thinking quickly, the debutante lofted the ball along to Kouamé, whose powerful shot gave his side the lead.

Taiwan were good value for their lead and kept searching for goals in the second half. With fifty-four minutes played, Chris Tiao watched a shot come crashing off the post but Taiwan would not be denied.

Soon after, Tiao surged into the box yet again and looked to find an open man for a pass. He found his target in Benchy, who had all the time in the world to gently guide the ball past Tsenguun Khandaa in the Mongolian goal. Taiwan had doubled their lead and with it came a visible sense of relief among their players.

Mongolia, on the other hand, looked defeated. In response to conceding the second goal, they soon began lashing out at Taiwan’s players. A studs-up challenge on Wang almost sparked a fracas between the two sides, forcing the referee to intervene. Yu Yao-hsing could also be seen shouting at his teammates to not take the bait and get sent off.

But as the Mongolians were losing their composure, Taiwan regained theirs and added a third goal as a reward. Once again, Tiao found himself wide open and his cross from distance was tapped home by Yu. It was simple football but effective; every time Mongolia made a mistake, Taiwan seemed ready to pounce.

As the game entered the final minutes, there was still time for Kouamé to conjure up a fourth goal. A botched clearance from the Mongolian defense fell kindly for the striker, who had the time to calmly look up and curl a beautiful shot past Khandaa from twenty-five yards.

With chants of ‘we want five’ coming down from the stands, Taiwan continued to patiently ignore more wild Mongolian challenges. Indeed, Tsend-Ayuush Khürelbaatar was lucky to have only gotten a yellow, after spending most of the second half causing trouble. Both sides just wanted the game to end and the referee mercifully blew his whistle shortly after one final fracas.

In the aftermath of the game, Taiwan’s players looked delighted. Four goals of increasing ruthlessness and quality underlined an excellent overall performance. As a result, they will go into Saturday’s must-win game with Hong Kong believing they can pull off an upset.

Hong Kong have historically dominated the rivalry but thanks to the Mongolia scoreline, Taiwan only need a draw to advance to the prelim final next Tuesday. It will be a huge moment, but performances like tonight are proof that Taiwan can compete against the stronger sides in the region.

Photo Credit: HKFA