Taiwan began their AFC Women’s Finals tournament in Australia with a gutsy but perhaps inevitable defeat to tournament favorites, Japan. The Mulan had a clear game plan from the beginning; defend deep, play selflessly and try to limit the opportunities for the tournament favorites to shoot from inside the Taiwan penalty box. 

For a large chunk of the game, that ploy was successful as a star-studded Japan side huffed and puffed but failed to bother the scoresheet. Luck was also a factor, as was a top drawer performance from twenty-three year old goalkeeper, Wang Yu-ting.

Historically, Japan has been a major headache for Taiwan and Mulan boss, Prasobchoke Chokemor, was clearly aware of this when he sent his side out in a very pragmatic, deep-lying 4-5-1 formation.

For most of the opening exchanges, Japan held a monopoly on the ball, enjoying 91% of possession during the first half.  This did not seem to bother Taiwan, who were content to let their opponents tire themselves out amid sweltering conditions under the antipodean sunshine.

There was still chances for Taiwan, most notably when Su Sin-yun’s header from an indirect free kick caused panic among the Japanese defense before it was finally booted away from danger.

But Japan had no intention of letting Taiwan have too much fun and were constantly probing for scoring opportunities. Taiwan’s backline had to clear their lines on multiple occasions and even when Japan were able to get a shot off, Wang was always on hand to save the day.

Indeed, the flow of the game often felt like a one-way conversation between Japan’s star studded forward line and the Taiwanese keeper. Sometimes Wang even had to save her own teammates from themselves, and her best save in the first half came when Hsu Yi-yun deflected a Japanese cross backwards and towards the goal line before Wang acrobatically pushed the ball away.

Wang continued to defy the Japanese attack well into the second half but the Nadeshiko finally broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute. Having tried everything, Hana Takahashi’s inch perfect pass was testament to the quality needed to finally get past the determined Taiwan defence. Standing in the deep center of the field like a quarterback, Takahasi’s long ball looped into the penalty box for Momoko Tanikawa to finish past Wang from close range. 

With almost thirty-minutes left to play, both teams looked shattered after playing in the heat for so long and the game seemed to slow down for the first time. Taiwan were still trying to snatch an equalizer back but were weary of over committing themselves and allowing Japan to get a second goal.

That cat and mouse game would continue until Japan broke through for the game’s second goal deep into injury time. With Taiwan’s backline gathered around the penalty box, the ball was instead shifted wide to the unmarked Remina Chiba. With all the time in the world to consider her options, the forward’s cross from the left-hand was powered home by Iko Seike and into the corner of the net.

Whilst the result does not look good on paper, Taiwan will still take it. With two very winnable group games on the horizon, A victory or two from those games, plus the goal difference from today’s encounter will likely be a factor in getting into the knockout rounds as a second place team. Taiwan will go again in a few days against Vietnam, who beat India, 2-1 in the tournament’s other game that day.

Photo Credit: Associated Press