The Week in Women's Football: Asian Cup recap; Matildas eliminated; Japan, China qualify | OneFootball

This week, we look at the 2022 Women's Asian Cup Group Matches and Quarterfinals, with all of the eight teams in the knockout stage either advancing directly to the Women's World Cup Finals or still having a chance to qualify for the 2023 event through the interregional play-ins.

2022 Women's Asian Cup—Quarterfinals and First Round Review

This week we look at some key storylines from the 2022 Women's Asian Cup in India, which finished group play last week. The tournament doubles as the 2023 Women's World Cup regional qualifiers. The Asian Football Confederation was a big beneficiary of the Women's World Cup expansion from 24 to 32 teams for next year's tournament, with Australia guaranteed a berth as co-hosts, along with five of the top finishers in the Asian Cup. The AFC also will send two teams to the ten team intercontinental play-offs to determine two last WWC Finals berths. Thus, essentially six of the quarterfinalists are guaranteed to either be at the 2023 Finals in Australia and New Zealand, with the other two having a second chance through the play-ins. See our Women's Asian Cup preview from two weeks ago for more tournament information: The Week in Women's Football: Asian Cup 2022; Matildas squad; Vietnam visit Spain; - Tribal Football).

In the quarterfinals on Sunday January 30, Japan defeated Thailand 7-0 behind four goals from ninth minute substitute Yuika Sugasawa (Urawa Reds), People's Republic of China defeated Vietnam 3-1, Korea Republic's Taegeuk Ladies upset Australia's Matildas 1-0 on a late goal by Chelsea's Ji So-yun, after Korea missed a chance to take the lead late in the first half when Cho So-hyun of Tottenham Hotspurs in England put the spot kick over the Australian goal. In the fourth match of the day, Philippines—led by former Australian women's national team coach Alen Stajcic—defeated Chinese Taipei 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 tie, with American goalkeeper Olivia McDonald (see below) saving two spot kicks and scoring once during the tie-breaker session. Japan, China, Korea Republic and the Philippines (for their first time ever) have qualified for next summer's Women's World Cup, as has Australia as hosts. In the semifinals on February 3, Japan plays China and Korea Republic takes on the Philippines.

Meanwhile, since Australia lost in the quarterfinals and is already in to next year's WWC finals, the other three teams who lost in the quarterfinals will play a single round robin repechage to determine the last secure finals berth from Asia: Thailand, Vietnam and Chinese Taipei, with a single game each on February 2, 4 and 6. The second and third placed teams after the repechage will qualify for the ten team intercontinental playoffs.

The win by Korea Republic over Australia may spell the end for Tony Gustavsson's reign as head coach of the Matiladas. After the game, he said, "First of all, I want to congratulate Korea Republic for the win and the semi-finals spot; it was an impressive performance. We were prepared for a very well-organized, hardworking team in this quarter-final. It was a little bit of a roller coaster game, where a lot of emotions were up there, both on the sidelines and on the pitch. I've been around the game long enough that football can be this way sometimes, and I take full ownership for the performances." He may not have the opportunity to lead the Matildas much longer after this loss to a South Korean team that utilized only four imports—three from England's WSL and one from Spain. English native head coach Colin Bell has brought some defensive tenacity to the Korean side since joining in October of 2019 after leaving Huddersfield Town's men's team, where he was an assistant after time leading the Republic of Ireland's women's team after coaching women's clubs in Germany and Norway. Despite the Korea Republic's improvement, Australia was targeting to win this Women's Asian Cup tournament for the first time in three editions. Gustavsson has not been popular down under, with a string of high-profile friendly losses in Europe before the Olympic Games Finals, his handling of the end of long-time forward Lisa De Vanna's career in a dismissive and disrespectful manner, his not moving to Australia (though COVID has been a factor in that), a fourth place finish at the Olympics (though that was a record best at a global finals), losses to the Americans at home last year and now this Asian Cup loss—it all may be too much for the Australian Football Federation to take and he could be dispatched sooner than later. There will be no shortage of candidates to lead the side into next year's 2023 Women's World Cup at home.

After the group stage (see below), Thailand and Vietnam advanced as the two best third place teams.

It is a shame that games were held without fans in India because of COVID, which would have helped to build the women's game in a country where soccer is increasing in interest—particularly on the men's side—but still pales to cricket in the country's consciousness. Certainly, the fate of the host team India—sidelined by COVID after the first match and forced to withdraw from the tournament—was also a sad situation and we wish all the best to the Indian team and their federation to continue to build the women's game on the subcontinent (see more below).

Group Stage

Group A was comprised of Asian power China along with two teams vying for their first ever Women's World Cup berth—host nation India and Women's AFC Cup Finals debutants Iran—as well as Chinese Taipei, who made the first ever Women's World Cup Finals in 1991, advancing from the group stage to the quarterfinals.

The first day's game on January 20 between India and Iran was quite interesting, despite the goalless draw. Iran was impressive in their tournament debut, particularly in defense, while India was disappointed in their 0-0 tie. Iranian Coach Maryam Irandoost went with a defensive focused counter-attacking style that was effective. Her team was further handicapped by not being able to play any international friendlies before the tournament. She said, "We did our best to keep a clean sheet and it was an important result. In the end, the plan worked in our favour and we are happy with our performance today. With this being our first match, we came here to win but India were tough opponents. That's why we had players playing behind in defence and I'm glad we walked away with a point." Goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei (32) was the star for Iran in an outstanding performance in posting a clean sheet.

Iran Women's National Team Goalkeeper Zohreh Koudaei in action against India on January 20, 2022 in her nation's 0-0 draw with India in the 2022 Asian Women's Cup opener. Photo courtesy Asian Football Confederation.

India head coach Thomas Dennerby was not as buoyant as Irandoost after the game, "I'm disappointed with the result; we had enough chances to score, but it is what it is. It is all down to technical skills. You are not given goals, you have to score them, otherwise you are not good enough. But still, we get a point, so when you have a point from the first match, you stay alive for the rest of the group games. It's a good thing, but when we summarise this, we should have won the game." India had double the possession (64% vs. 36%) of Iran, three times the numbers of shots (24 vs. 8) and five times the number of shots on goal (5 vs. 1).

India used an all-domestic based squad while Iran had two players from abroad: Maryam Yektaei of Besiktas of Turkey and Yasaman Farmani of Sporting Charleroi. It's too bad they couldn't draw on their American diaspora, particularly the large Persian community in Southern California.

Unfortunately, Iran couldn't hold out against a powerful China attack on January 23 in a 7-0 defeat in their second match. Tang Jiali (Tottenham Hotspur), the only non-domestic based player in the team, came on in the 60th minute and scored a brace as did team captain Wang Shanshan (Tianjin Shengde) and Wang Shuang (Wuhan Jianghan University).

India's second game was to be against Chinese Taipei on January 23 but the match was postponed as India's side had a dozen positive COVID-19 cases, and didn't have the required minimum of 13 players for the match. India was forced to withdraw as the tight match schedule didn't allow for the flexibility to postpone games from the tournament, not only scuppering their chance of a 2023 WWC berth but Iran's as well, as the group was reconfigured with three teams and their one point from the India match no longer counted. There are calls for an investigation as to why eleven visiting nations were able to play on but, despite playing in a bubble managed by the All-India Football Federation, the India side was the one with the massive number of infections. Swedish native and India national team head coach Thomas Dennerby blamed the AFC's protocol rules but his side was training in Kerala—a hotspot for the disease—up until shortly before the tournament, before movng to Mumbai. Perhaps they should have moved sooner.

China was the overwhelming favorite to win the group and won their opener 4-0 over Chinese Taipei on January 20 in an interesting match given the political tension between the two countries. With a 7-0 win over Iran on January 23, China won the abbreviated group. Chinese Taipei advanced to the quarterfinals in second place after a 5-0 defeat of Iran on January 26.

We do hope to see Iran's team at future regional Finals' tournaments. After having the FIFA U-17 tournament postponed in 2020—for which Dennerby was originally hired—but now set to be staged in India in October, India's extensive preparation for the Asian Women's Cup Finals, including trips to Brazil and Sweden, alas could not be featured to the public other than in the first game. We do hope that the Federation continues to invest and support the women's national teams' program.

In Group B, Australia defeated Indonesia 18-0 on January 21, though head coach Tony Gustavsson is still under fire by some fans and some media at home. Sam Kerr (Chelsea) scored five goals and added two assists and is now her country's all-time international goal scoring leader—men or women. Kerr now has 54 goals in international matches, four more than retired Socceroo's legend Tim Cahill (who played in England at Millwall, and Everton, with the New York Red Bulls and for clubs in China and India). It was also extra significant that Kerr set the mark in India as her father was born in Kolkata before emigrating to Australia as a nine-year-old. Kerr explained, "It's special. I definitely thought about that before the game; how special that would be for my family that I'm in India. It's my first time here, so—even just seeing the culture and, when we drive here, looking outside and seeing the people—everyone has been so welcoming, and I know that there's a lot of Indian fans out there that follow me. It's special to break the record, but it's a bit more special doing it here, and in the Asian Cup, which is a really important tournament to me." Emily Van Egmond (Newcastle Jets) added a hat trick and had four assists in the match. Indonesia's roster was all from domestic-based clubs.

Gustavsson came under criticism not for the excessive score but for his squad selection against the FIFA ranked 94th team in the world, continuing with senior players rather than giving his younger players more of a chance. Former international and now Paramount+ football analyst Grace Gill said, "Tonight for me: great goalscoring, comprehensive win, missed opportunity." Her co-analyst, another former Matilda Georgia Yeoman-Dale, said, "I have to say, I am really disappointed tonight, if anything. Fantastic, we're scoring a lot of goals, but with what team? These girls have so many caps under their belts, they've got so much experience, they're playing top-level football, and we've come out with our strongest team when we have an opportunity to play young players. Yes, we see Holly McNamara making her debut off the bench—fantastic. We see Clare Wheeler play 90 minutes, fantastic. But what about Cortnee Vine? What about Remy Siemsen [both Sydney FC]?" Gill added: "The names you just mentioned there, those substitutions at half time [with a 9-0 advantage] he [Gustavsson] brought on [had] over 200 international appearances collectively [Courtney Nevin (seven caps), Tameka Yallop (101 caps), Kyah Simon (105 caps) and Aivi Luik (33 caps)]. You've got players on the bench who need minutes and who need international experience." Yeoman-Dale was further worried that a player like Siemsen or Vine might think, "'We're winning 12-0 against Indonesia and I'm not getting a go…am I even in the picture here?' That's where that mentality comes from. You can be experienced on the other end (and think) 'yeah it's fine, we're a squad mentality', but as a player just coming in and on the fringe, this is the game you want your opportunity."

I find it odd that there wasn't the criticism of Australia running up the score against an overmatched opponent, which we saw last October as England scored 30 goals in two games against Latvia in their Women's World Cup qualifying group—10-0 away and 20-0 at home, despite England coach Sarina Weigman saying after the first game that a 10-0 score doesn't help England or Latvia in building the sport. However, the 20-0 score by England in the second match shows the importance of goal difference in 5-6 team groups, with only one or two other teams realistically in with a chance of the top two places in UEFA qualifying. Australia doesn't have that excuse however, as they are far and away the favorites in Group B and—with a WWC spot secured as a co-host in 2023—could even have missed the quarterfinals and still be in the 2023 World Finals. Maybe it is a case in which Australia, which on the men's side holds the record number of goals scored in World Cup qualifying (31-0) versus American Samoa in World Cup qualifying in April 2001, wanted to break that record as well. Australia finished runners-up in the Women's Asian Cup to Japan in 2014 and 2018 but won in 2010 and are desperate to capture the crown again.

Philippines defeated Thailand in their first match on January 21. American-born forward Chandler McDaniel scored the winner in the 81st minute as the Philippines boosted their hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals, while Thailand—which qualified for the 2015 and 2019 WWC Finals—was surprised. The Philippines, who came into the tie having not beaten Thailand in 12 previous attempts, started on the front foot. Chandler McDaniel went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, along with her sister, goalkeeper Olivia Davies-McDaniel.

The Philippines traditionally utilizes a strong base of American diaspora and have 12 American imports this time, along with two in Japan and one each from Cyprus, Spain and Sweden, compared to only two imports for Thailand: Tiffany Sornpao of Keflavik in Iceland and Miranda Nild (who grew up in the States and played collegiately at the University of California-Berkeley) of Kristianstads of Sweden.

Kiara Fontanilla, one of the Philippines' American diaspora, played this season at Division II Eastern Oregon University in La Grande, a community with a population of 13,200 people in a remote region of the Pacific Northwest. Playing for the Philippines was a lifelong goal but also allowed her to connect with her extended family in Asia. She played two seasons with the Mountaineers after stints with Division I Cal State-Fullerton and Division II Northwest Oklahoma State University. The team had an extensive training camp in Irvine, California for two months before traveling to India. She traveled to California for that camp in November of 2021, competing with about 100 other players through a tryout process. The squad was gradually reduced through cuts and she learned on January 4 this year that she had made the finals team. The goalkeeper plans to train with her Oregon college team in the spring and serve as a voluntary coach this fall season, explaining that, "My goal is to be a coach in the future. I feel like I can really help the team with what I've learned." She is also considering playing professionally as well.

Another American in the side is Katrina Guillou (28), who is in her second season with Pitea of Sweden after two seasons with Moron in Sweden and two seasons with ONS in Finland; she played collegiately at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington

Philippines, ranked 64th by FIFA among women's national teams, wants to improve upon the country's best finish at the tournament, which came in 2018 when the team took sixth place, losing out on a spot at the 2019 Women's World Cup Finals in France when they lost 5-0 to Korea Republic in the fifth/sixth place playoff for the final spot from Asia.

Newly appointed head coach Alen Stajcic, the former Australian women's national team head coach, has been with the Philippines women's national team since November. In the second game on January 24, Stajcic's former side Australia defeated the Philippines 4-0, with all the goals coming in the second half; Sam Kerr scored the winner in the 51st minute, her sixth goal in two games.

Australia then went on to defeat Thailand 2-1 on January 27 to finish as undefeated group winners. The Philippines defeated Indonesia 6-0 the same day to advance to the quarterfinals in second place, while Thailand also made the last eight as their 4-0 win over Indonesia on January 24 gave them three points and one of the two spots going to third place sides in the group stage; with 5 goals scored and 3 against, Thailand's defense could cause other teams difficulties in the knockout stage.

In Group C, Japan and Korea Republic were the overwhelming favorites over Myanmar and Vietnam and, after two games, both teams had not surrendered a goal, with Japan scoring 8 and Korea Republic 5 against the other two nations. The best that the two southeast Asian sides could hope for was to qualify for the quarterfinals as one of two best third place teams, with Vietnam having more experience and narrowly missing out on France 2019 during the last Women's Asian Cup in Jordan. Vietnam's squad was entirely called from domestic clubs while Myanmar had one import: high scoring forward Win Theini Tun (26) with Gokulam, Kerala in India, who had over 50 goals in about 60 matches coming into the Finals tournament, after years at home with Myawady.

A 1-1 tie on January 27 between Japan and Korea Republic left both teams on 7 points, but Japan were Group C winners based on a +8 to +5 goal difference. Vietnam took the second best third place spot after a 2-2 tie against Myanmar, who lost out on the quarterfinals by a goal difference of one (-6 to Vietnam to -7 for Myanmar).

Note: Six of the twelve sides were coached by imports, with two from Japan, two from Sweden and one each from Australia and England:

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women's football. Get yours copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey