Taiwan took an almighty beating on foreign soil, albeit in a result that most people should have seen coming. The Blue Wings accepted the game on very short notice following the withdrawal of Kuwait and thus were only able to choose players from their domestic league.

Set-up in a 4-3-2-1 formation. Kung Chih-yu and Lin Chih-hsuan both made their national team debuts in the starting line-up whilst Huang Chiu-lin was given the captain’s armband despite only having seven international caps.

But if Huang Che-ming– who was coaching his first game as manager of Taiwan– thought he would get a gentle start to international football, he was wrong. Within four minutes Indonesia went ahead when a lofted ball from the right by Beckham Putra was headed home by Jordi Amat.

The hot start by Indonesia continued for most of the first-half. An own goal by Chao Ming-hsiu was followed up by Marc Klok curling in a wonderful shot for Indonesia’s third. A simple tap in from Eliano Reijnders made it four and the home team were in total control.

It should be noted that whilst Indonesia were impressive, Taiwan also seemed shell-shocked. Besides the Chao own goal, there had been several mental errors from the Blue Wings backline that had contributed to the lopsided start to the game.

However, when Taiwan were able to gain some momentum, one could see what Huang was aiming for with his formation and tactics. Just before halftime, a lovely bit of interplay between Kung and Fong Shao-chi sent the latter surging down the byline. Fong’s cross was met by an onrushing Yu Chia-Huang, who sent his first-time volley wide but it was an incisive piece of play that deserved a better finish.

Taiwan continued to dig deep and soon after the restart, Jhon Benchy flashed a shot just wide of Emil Audero’s goal. If Taiwan could have stayed calm, they might have fashioned a goal and earned some respect from the Indonesians and their increasingly raucous home crowd.

But instead, the errors kept coming. Indonesia’s fifth goal was another howler as Lin Wei-chieh fluffed his clearance and the ball fell perfectly for Ramadhan Sananta to fire home from close range. The final humiliation came two minutes later as an Indonesian free kick ricocheted around the box before landing kindly for Sandy Walsh to smash the ball home.

Although Taiwan did not concede for the final thirty minutes of the game, they still could not get a goal of their own. Kang Tae-won fired straight at the keeper after good work by Benchy just outside the box and later on, Yu Chia-Huang once again flashed a shot just wide of goal.

When the full-time whistle blew, Taiwan got off the field quickly. Attention will rightfully be on the scoreline, which underlined the difference in quality between the two sides. But beyond the boxscore lies the eye-test and the initial signs are that Huang Zheming has some good ideas for Taiwan that would have been better implemented by the team’s first choice players.

Photo Credit: Asean Football