Taiwan routed Pakistan in their opening game of the AFC Cup qualifiers, pouring on eight goals and essentially playing their opponents off the field. Have no doubt; this was a limited Pakistan team and the scoreline reflected the difference between the Mulan and a side ranked over 100 spots below them in the FIFA rankings. But equally, Taiwan played with a ruthlessness that bodes well for their chances of advancing to the finals of the AFC tournament next summer.

The Mulan were one-nil up within twelve minutes when full-back Lin Hsin-Hui ghosted into the box after a crisp spell of passing and her shot on goal clipped the post before rolling into the net. Four minutes later, they overloaded the right-hand flank again, allowing winger Chen Jin-wen to cut inside, take a touch and then unleash a fantastic volley that looped over the head of Zeeyana Jivraj in the Pakistan goal.

Su Yu-xuan, having previously missed two golden opportunities, then got herself on the scoresheet when Pakistan’s defense failed to properly clear Hsu Yi-yun’s cross. With the ball bobbling around in the box, Su was fastest to react and smashed home a first-time volley for the third goal.

At the half-time break, three goals via three impressive finishes had given Taiwan enough of a lead to park the bus and take it easy for the rest of the game. But instead of playing it safe, the Mulan poured forward and the goals kept coming.

With sixty-six minutes on the clock, Hsu cut inside from the left and curled a shot from twenty-yards past Jivraj for a sublime fourth. From a technical perspective, it was another fantastic goal from Taiwan and the difference in ability between the two sides was glaring.

But Taiwan would not stop attacking and finished the night by scoring four times in the final six minutes of play. Lin got her second goal after she poked home a deflected cross from the excellent Hsu. Soon after, Liu Yu-chiao then made it six, thanks to another close-range finish.

With the game going into injury time, Taiwan continued to press relentlessly. On as a substitute, a box-fresh He Jia-shiuan intercepted the ball on the edge of the Pakistan box and her shot flew over the arm of the hapless Jivraj for goal number seven.

Tellingly, He grabbed the ball from the goal herself and brought it back to the halfway line for the restart. Taiwan wanted to keep going– and having retaken possession soon after Pakistan kicked off, they marched the ball down the field once again. After a beautiful piece of trickery from Liu, her cross from the right-hand flank was headed home by He to complete the demolition job.

Full-time came soon after and Pakistan, finally and mercifully, were able to leave the field. Other than a visibly overjoyed He, Taiwan’s players looked stoic and businesslike as they shook hands and headed to the dressing room. For all intents and purposes, the final thirty-minutes was a training exercise and had been completed with a matching mentality.

In hindsight, this game was over within twenty minutes but Taiwan had stuck around to make an emphatic statement. Several of the goals were high quality finishes and the fact that both full-backs scored was a subtle illustration of the excellent off-ball movement Taiwan had shown through the match. The Mulan also looked excellent in possession and were confident shifting play to the flanks, where their wide players were able to feast on the backtracking Pakistan fullbacks. The high-pressing philosophy of Chan Hiu Ming now seems fully entrenched in the team and was a major factor in grinding down the plucky but outgunned Pakistani team.

Taiwan’s next game will Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, which should be another winnable contest, before the winner-takes-all game against hosts Indonesia on Saturday.

Photo Credit: Asian Football Confederation