Led by an electrifying performance from teenager Chen Yu-chin, the Taiwanese womens team romped to a resounding victory against Indonesia on Saturday.

In their first game under interim manager Prasobchoke Chokemor, the Mulan unveiled a new formation and a tweaked line-up. Starting in a 4-2-3-1, star forward Su Yu-hsuan was redeployed as a playmaking no. 10 whilst Chen, only weeks removed from her eighteenth birthday, made her second start for Taiwan as a lone striker.

For most of the first half, Taiwan controlled proceedings but were lucky not to concede after Sheva Imut fired a shot onto the post after incepting a poor pass in the middle of the field. Jolted into action, the visitors then marched up the field to open the scoring with thirty-five minutes played.

Indeed, Taiwan probably should have gotten a penalty after Gea Yumanda’s reckless tackle on Chen but from the subsequent corner, the Mulan got their payback. Su Sin-yun’s volley was saved at the near post by Iris de Rouw but a miscued clearance from Claudia Scheunemann allowed Su to attempt another shot, which was deflected into the net by another Indonesian defender. It was an ugly goal after a farcical passage of play but Taiwan finally had a reward for their dominance.

Seven minutes later, Taiwan doubled their lead through similarly underwhelming defending. After Chen had once again danced past Yumanda, her cross was fumbled by de Rouw and after a scramble in the box, Pu Hsin-hui was eventually able to fire the ball into the bottom left corner.

Indonesia were falling apart and things got even worse midway through the second half when Chen Jin-wen surged into the box and found Saki Matsunaga just outside the six-yard box. The midfielder’s shot was blocked from close range but it spun across goal and deflected off Yumanda for the second own-goal of the night.

But Taiwan were still not done scoring. Having tormented the Indonesian backline for most of the game, Chen finally got on the scoresheet when Taiwan broke quickly on the counter-attack and the forward finished cooly after being played through by Tseng Yun-ya.

With time running out, there was still time for a fifth Taiwan goal when Hsu Yi-yun intercepted a pass about thirty-yards out and her swerving shot flew past the diving DeRoux and into the top corner of the net.

When the full-time whistle finally blew, the home side looked exhausted. By every metric, this was a total rout– albeit against an Indonesian team that was missing some key players and had filled the gaps with teenage debutants.

However, Taiwan were also good value for their win. They dominated possession and moved the ball with confidence, particularly down the flanks. Moreover, the formation was a good fit for the personal; Hsu and Matsunaga looked assured as double pivots in the midfield whilst Chen’s directness caused huge problems for Indonesia as their backline began to tire.

Taiwan have another game on Tuesday against Nepal before flying home, although having put up one statement win, the Mulan should be good enough to make it two victories in a row.

Photo Credit: Indonesian FA