It was a tale of three goal posts and plenty of tough tackles, but Taiwan have advanced to the knock-out phases of the AFC Finals for only the second time in three decades.

It was hard slogging against an Indian team that had lost both their previous group games– including a 11-0 defeat to Japan– but on the night were detirmined, crafty and committed. Indeed, both sides will probably admit that had the ball bounced in a different direction on a couple of occasions, the scoreline could have been very different.

It was clear that the game was going to be event-filled when within ninety seconds, the Indians hit the post after Soumya Guguloth smashed a header against the goalpost from a corner kick.

But as soon as Taiwan regained possession, Chen Jin-wen forced Panthoi Chanu into a fantastic save to stop the Mulan from taking the lead. India then marched down the field only for Guguloth to almost score again with a right footed shot that drifted just wide of goal.

The ferocity of the opening exchanges made for an exciting spectacle and an opening goal felt like an absolute formality. Luckily for Taiwan, they were the ones to make it happen after Chen intercepted a woeful Indian back pass before selflessly setting up Su Yi-Hsuan for the easiest of tap-in goals.

With both teams playing on sheer adrenaline, things were starting to become chippy. With halftime looming, Taiwan were lucky to avoid being reduced to ten players after Huang Ke-sin shoved Guguloth to the ground in revenge for the Indian swatting away her hand.

Although Guguloth exaggerated the contact, Huang should not have reacted so forcefully in the first place. The Taiwanese fullback got a yellow card for her troubles and India made things even worse when from the subsequent free kick, Manisha Kalyan’s shot flew onto the underside of the crossbar and over the line.

With seconds remaining before the halftime whistle blew, the Mulan earned a penalty after a handball in the box. Once again, the goal frame played a part as Hsu Yi-Yun’s spot kick came off the post and bounced off Chanu’s back, before finding its way into back of the net.

Even after the halftime break, things still felt frenetic– and there were chances for both teams to score but also to be sent off. At one point, Chanu appeared to give Huang a coy shove in the back and a few minutes later, Lynda Kom got away with a blatant push on Chen Ying-hui.

But Taiwan held their nerve and with fifteen minutes left to play, Wu Kai-Ching spotted that Chen was unmarked and had acres of space to run into. A delicate throughball later and Chen was dribbling the ball into the box, rounding the keeper and closing out the game with a cool finish.

India were now starring at the end of their tournament and although they continued to have chances, there was no coming back from this. As had been the case with the Vietnam game, Taiwan did what was needed to close the game out.

Fittingly, the last moment of the game was a yellow card for Kalyan when she struck Teng Pei-lin in the back of the head as both players chased a long-pass.

By then the physicality of the game had taken its toll. Three players had been substituted for injuries, including both the starting goalkeepers, and the crowd booed the Indian playmaker as she got her punishment. Teng also knew what was needed and stayed down, eating up the final seconds of the game before the referee blew for full-time soon after.

Only then did the emotions show. Taiwan had maneuvered the group stage perfectly; a battling loss to Japan, a smash and grab win over a higher ranked Vietnam and now a close out win over the weakest team in the bracket. A deserved visit to the quarter finals had been confirmed.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Rick Rycroft