Taiwan’s mens team will have a new head coach in time for the away game against Turkmenistan in November. Matt Ross, who recently resigned from his post as the Nepal national team coach, has been hired on a two-game basis that runs until March.

However, Ross, an Australian national, could see this two-game contract converted into a longer-term agreement ‘depending on continued good performances’ according to notes from the CTFA’s most recent meeting.

Ross arrives with an interesting resume. After a decade spent working within European women’s coaching, Ross was on the coaching staff of Eintracht Frankfurt that won the women’s Champions League in 2015 before becoming head coach a year later and making it to the semi-finals. Soon after, Ross moved to Asia where he worked in the women’s set-up for the Chinese and Korean national teams. In 2025, he transitioned into the mens national team set-up with Nepal, where he guided the Gorkhalis to an upset away win over Singapore as well as encouraging draws against Hong Kong and Bangladesh.

But Ross’ tenure with Nepal came to an end on Thursday when he resigned suddenly, reportedly due to the lack of structure within domestic Nepalese football. With things moving quickly, Ross signed terms with the CTFA a day later and will now helm Taiwan for the last two games of the AFC qualification rounds.

Although Taiwan have no chance of qualifying for the AFC Finals, the upcoming encounters with Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka represent a chance for Ross to earn a long-term contract as the Blue Wings head coach.

Photo Credit: Edmond So