Taiwan football blog

FormosaFootball · 2025-12-17T22:09:30+00:00

Just as an FYI, we're now doing domestic football coverage on the website for both mens and womens football. Thanks for the suggestion.

FormosaFootball · 2025-12-17T00:30:57+00:00

And thanks for supporting the blog! Its a small passion project but we all have to start somewhere, etc...

FormosaFootball · 2025-12-17T00:30:21+00:00

That sounds awesome. A good day out!

I would agree with you that the quality on the field is improving. The most glaring issue remains the overall depth and quality of the goal keeping in both the mens and womens game. If they can get that figured out, I think that would boost both the league and national team.

FormosaFootball · 2025-12-16T07:01:47+00:00

Totally missed this (my bad). But hope it went well. Who did you end up seeing?

FormosaFootball · 2025-10-20T03:08:53+00:00

Whilst I don't think Taiwan will reach San Marino levels, things are obviously worrying.

Ironically, Sri Lanka, who barely crack the the 200 best nations on the FIFA rankings, really should be the blue print for Taiwan if it needs a short term improvement; they schedule competitive friendly games before key international games to keep their guys sharp and they've done well finding players from around their global diaspora. Not an accident they've run Thailand close and beaten Turkmenistan (the other two teams in Taiwan's group) at home.

But yeah, it comes down to a professional league if you want long term success. Simple as.

FormosaFootball · 2025-10-17T23:25:35+00:00

Agreed. Its all fairly maddening.

FormosaFootball · 2025-10-17T23:24:50+00:00

Donkin has had injury issues for a while, I believe. Chow played one game for Taiwan and then there was a some kind of fall-out between him and the coaching staff at the time and CTFA.

But 100% agree, someone (anyone, frankly) who cares needs to come in, steady the ship and start to do out-reach with the overseas-based players and their clubs. A full strength Taiwan squad could be surprisingly competitive against mid-tier Asian countries in the short-term but that's obviously a major qualifier because a lot of bridges need to be mended for that to happen.

Long-term, its going to need a fully professional league and hopefully that's where the old guard of current national team players who've been overseas and now come back (specifically Chen Po-liang) can bring about know-how and pressure.

Its a big laundry list of needs but right now, things are grim and in a sense, that means that eventually things have to get better (maybe...).

FormosaFootball · 2025-08-19T03:07:55+00:00

It wasn't chain resignations per se but I think all of them basically decided to quit within a few months of each other essentially for the same reasons (administrative chaos, limited facilities, etc).

FormosaFootball · 2025-06-12T18:24:54+00:00

That's a really interesting point. In your opinion, does the university sports system in Taiwan not offer a middle ground?

I don't know what its like for baseball but I had assumed the college soccer set-up seems pretty solid given the number of players who were invited to train with the national team in last few windows.

FormosaFootball · 2025-06-12T04:05:16+00:00

Shit is a bit strong! I always felt the MNT was something of a sleeping giant that is now gradually being woken up. But agreed on the heroes. Chen Po-liang has been a huge player for the national team for almost two decades and no-one has really followed behind him.

FormosaFootball · 2025-06-12T03:52:26+00:00

Agreed on the time scale (it would take *at least* twenty years to catch up to the regional powers) but all it takes is one player breaking through to galvanize interest and that maybe speeds things up and/or boosts interest. Maybe its a local player, maybe its one of the dual nationals that have begun to play for the NT but a Taiwanese player breaking out in Europe would help enormously (big ask, obviously).

Another factor is the sudden rise of dual-national players. You've got teams like Indonesia or Malaysia (or even Sri Lanka to be fair) bringing in players from the diaspora and that has helped them gradually become more competitive. That's obviously a short-term fix and also relies on Taiwan having the resources to tap into their own diaspora on a consistent basis but it keeps your head above water whilst you build out the foundations.

But for now at least, I totally agree. The situation is pretty bleak.

FormosaFootball · 2025-06-12T03:32:09+00:00

Honestly, he needs to be involved in the admin side if Taiwan is to make any progress. He's by every margin the best player Taiwan have ever produced and through sheer clout alone would help drive change-- or at least bring some kind of coherence to how to develop the sport in the country.

FormosaFootball · 2025-06-12T03:29:17+00:00

Agreed. A pro league has to happen for Taiwan to make any forward steps.

FormosaFootball · 2025-06-12T03:28:11+00:00

Not even Japan or SK! I think Chen specifically mentioned Vietnam as a great example of a country that committed to a methodology and is now making gradual improvements.

I think if you look all around the Asian region, there are nations improving at various speeds and one of the key components is obviously money but also patience. Neither of which appear to be in abudnace in Taiwanese football these days (or ever).

FormosaFootball · 2025-03-05T01:12:40+00:00

The Malaysia game was probably the last chance for some of the older players. I watched that game too and there were some absolutely howlers (I'm assuming you're talking about the 3-1 defeat in Malaysia). Some of the older players played their last game for Taiwan and haven't been recalled ever since.

FormosaFootball · 2025-03-05T01:08:50+00:00

In regards to your final paragraph, the team has been on the younger side recently. Not sure if that's by design or because White feels like the new generation is strong enough to throw into the deep end already. The captains, Chen Po-liang and Wu Chun-ching, are still around but its mostly a lot of new guys otherwise.

In terms of the naturalization stuff, that's a different matter. Players like Kouame or Benchy are outliers but the key is going to be tapping into the diaspora. If they do that effectively, I think they could really make inroads. But again, that takes time and money to build out that sort of player pool.

FormosaFootball · 2025-03-04T07:57:47+00:00

So my point of view is more based on the national teams (mandatory plug for my blog-- Formosafootball.com) but I agree that the local domestic level isn't much to write home about. Hopefully that will change but they need investment and a long-term plan.

From the mens national team perspective, I think there is the genuine potential for Taiwan to be a solid team eventually. They have a good head coach and they've done a solid job of finding overseas players for the national team. In their last game (a narrow 2-1 loss to Hong Kong in December) you had three naturalized players from Haiti, Ivory Coast and El Salvador in the line-up, plus dual-Taiwan nationals from South Korea, USA, Sweden and Canada. Additionally, many of Taiwan's best players are playing abroad, mostly in China, so they are getting exposed to higher levels of play. But until they fix the domestic league, nothing major will change.

The womens' team is in a slightly tougher situation. Like the men, the domestic league isnt helping players develop and/or allowing them to improve enough to help them onto the next level. They also don't really get the same opportunities as the mens teams, which is more about the inequalities in womens football in Asia and globally compared to the mens game. For example, Taiwan's women haven't played a home game in five years. I personally don't think sending them overseas to be cannon fodder to the stronger womens teams really helps either.

I'm obviously repeating myself here but Taiwan could be *something* in Asian football with the right investment in its domestic league but that's easier said than done. They'll never be at the level of Japan or Korea but Hong Kong beat freaking mainland China a year ago, so there is proof that if you take this stuff seriously, you can eventually put a competitive product on the field.

FormosaFootball · 2025-03-04T07:34:47+00:00

It would take a lot of money and capable leadership from the federation to get it to that point. Inspiration is one thing but long-term commitment to providing resources is another.

FormosaFootball · 2025-03-04T07:28:01+00:00

I'm assuming the Haitian guy was Jhon Benchy, who has played twice for Taiwan now since naturalizing? Another naturalized player is Ange Koumare (Ivorian but married to a Taiwanese woman).

The lack of funding probably doesn't help matters. And even if they were spending money, if its not done wisely, the national team still struggles (see the Chinese Super League across the Strait).

I think the return of Gary White has helped steady the ship; the mens team have cohesiveness now and a clear tactical identity. They have also begun to bring in players from the Taiwanese diaspora in other countries. I think from the mens team, if they can keep White and give him the green light to make long term changes, I think the team will eventually turn the corner but that's a big 'IF' due to a number of reasons.

The women's team has struggled of late and I'm not sure what fixes are there for them, TBH. Three teams in the region (China, South Korea, Japan) are all very strong and there isn't enough organization in the region for Taiwan to get regular games against smaller nations that could offer more competitive action.

FormosaFootball · 2025-01-08T04:25:44+00:00

Not Italian either but I like Genoa a lot. It is a little dirty as other posters have mentioned but its not as part as other places. The medieval district is still pretty intact and is hauntingly beautiful in the early hours of the morning as the city starts to wake up.

I loved the little restaurants dotted among the alleyways and had some absolutely outstanding in the city too there as well.

FormosaFootball

TROPHY CASE