Australia and Korea on a winning start

Australia proved too strong for Chinese Taipei as they romped to a 5-0 win in their opening AFC U20 Women’s Asian Cup Thailand Group C tie. In Group B, Korea defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 in their opening match at the Nonthaburi Stadium.

The Young Matildas took control of the match at the Pathum Thani Stadium from the starting whistle as Chinese Taipei offered almost no resistance. 

Chinese Taipei keeper Jian Yu Jie almost gifted Australia the opening goal in the fifth minute when she spilled Talia Younis’ attempt from distance, with Skye Halmarick sending the rebound into the left netting. 

Jian again fumbled a seemingly harmless Peta Trimis attempt from the right in the 17th minute, but the lurking pair of Younis and Halmarick were slow to react.

Despite their domination, Australia failed to create any clear-cut openings, with Younis and Halmarick unable to convert their chances while on the other end, Chinese Taipei struggled to make any headway into their opponents’ half.

Halmarick, however, finally found the opener in the 24th minute after Zara Kruger’s venomous shot crashed against the underside off the crossbar and dropped into the centre of the area, with the striker then shrugging off the closing Chinese Taipei defence to slam the ball beyond Jian’s reach.

Australia doubled their advantage a minute before the break when Trimis’ cross from the right – which evaded the Chinese Taipei backline – resulted in an unguarded Tiana Fuller coming in from behind to fire past a rooted Jian into the top right corner.

Halmarick, who struck five times in the Qualifiers, found the back of the net again five minutes into the second half when, after being set up by Younis, she forced her way into the centre of the area and struck home.

Australia’s fourth landed in the 53rd minute, Tremis sneaking in at the far post, latching on to a pass from Fuller on the left and driving the ball into the net past an out-of-position Jian.

Tremis claimed her second in the 61st minute when she connected to an inch-perfect pass from Halmarick, outran the chasing Chinese Taipei defenders and side-footed in from the right to close the match and give her side a confidence-boosting start to the continental showpiece.

Australia meet India on Sunday while Chinese Taipei will have a tough time against six-time champions Japan on the same day.

Korea, the two-time winners will turn their attention to their clash with Jordan on Saturday, while Uzbekistan will be seeking their first win against defending champions DPR Korea.

Both Korea and Uzbekistan showed their attacking intent early in the game, with the opening exchanges producing end-to-end action, most notably Diyora Bakhtiyarova’s effort in the sixth minute, which was comfortably collected by Korea goalkeeper Kim Chae-been, who was called into action again almost immediately to block Rukshona Usarova’s long-range attempt.

Korea responded a minute later when captain Cho Hye-young slipped past a number of blue shirts inside the box, but her attempt hit the side netting.

Another chance came soon after for the East Asians when midfielder Han Min-seo beat Meruert Rakhmatullaeva before sending a cross to Lee Ha-eun, whose effort was gathered by Uzbekistan goalkeeper Ezoza Sevinova.

The Uzbekistan midfield came alive in the 22nd minute as Etibor Shodieva found Nehrubon Egamberdieva upfront, who then fed the ball to Bakhtiyarova, but the forward’s shot from just outside the box went wide.

The deadlock was finally broken in the 43rd minute when Usarova and Madina Shovkatova failed to clear from the box with Jin Hye-rin pouncing on the loose ball to slot into the bottom right corner.

The 2024 semi-finalists almost doubled their lead in the 49th minute when Min-seo’s effort from the left flank sailed over the Uzbekistan backline but struck the crossbar.

Uzbekistan had a wonderful chance to equalise when Oydinoy Turgunova sent a perfect through ball to Bakhtiyarova, who left the Korean defenders behind to charge into the box but was ultimately denied by Jung Da-bin, who cleared the danger.

Korea Republic heaped further misery for their Group B rivals when goalkeeper Sevinova brought down Ha-eun inside the box in the 72nd minute. Captain Hye-young made no mistake in finding the back of the net from the spot to make it 2-0.

With less than ten minutes remaining, Uzbekistan had a good chance to reduce the deficit when forward Shahnoza Dekanbaeva raced onto Shodieva’s pass and found Bakhtiyarova inside the box, but the number nine sent her effort wide, leaving the scoreline unchanged.