Taipei Times
Date: Jul 01, 2016
By: Jason Pan / Staff reporter

Taiwan yesterday ran rampant over the Northern Mariana Islands, scoring four goals in each half on the way to an 8-1 thrashing in Guam, picking up their first win in an international competition in more than a year.

Players and coaches congratulated each other at the final whistle for the superlative performance, with accolades going to midfielder Lin Chieh-hsun, who scored four goals, and striker Wu Chun-ching, who grabbed a brace, in the first-round qualifier for next year’s East Asia Football Federation Championship.

Although the team and Taiwanese fans were overjoyed at the lopsided victory, there was a big gap between the two sides, with Taiwan 191st in the FIFA rankings and the Northern Mariana Islands 233rd in the World Football Elo rankings and picked from a population of about 52,000.

It was the first international win for Taiwan since they defeated Brunei 2-0 in an Asian region FIFA World Cup qualifier in March last year and their largest margin of victory since a 10-0 rout of Guam in an EAFF qualifier in 2007.     [FULL  STORY]