Womens’ Round 2 of the EAFF E-1 Football Championship 2019 took place in Guam from December 1st through 5th, 2018. The competition was dominated by the China PR team, who won all three of their games by scoring a total of 18 goals and conceding none.

This outstanding result earned China PR a spot in the final round, to be played in the Republic of Korea in December 2019. The tournament final will pit them against the top teams in East Asia: DPR Korea, Japan, and Korea Republic.

Manager XIUQUIAN JIA was satisfied with his team’s achievements: “Our goal here is to win the tournament and to play in the final round […] All my players deserved this victory. They really had little time to prepare for this tournament after the end of their League. I am very pleased.”

However, he also added that, “[…] if we compare our team with the best in Asia and in the world, there is still a gap. We need to work very hard to go back to the glory days this team had before.”

China PR hosted the final tournament in 2008 and 2015, but was never able to win it. Their best result was a second-place finish behind Japan in 2010.

WANG SHANSHAN, who scored in every game (and for a total of six goals), was chosen as the MVPof the Tournament. The 28-year-old striker dominated every aspect of the game and will be one of the players to watch in the final tournament.

Chinese Taipei finished second in the Round 2 matches, and seemed to be the only team who could challenge China PR. Their match on the last day of the tournament ended with a 2-0 China PR victory.

Besides captain CHEN YEN-PING’s steady performance, Chinese Taipei’s other outstanding player was LEE HSIU-CHIN, who scored four goals in the match against Mongolia.

Hong Kong was the most improved team, clearly an upgraded version of the one that was humbled at home two years ago. Their opening game, despite being a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Hong Kong, was possibly the most balanced and entertaining of the whole tournament. It may have had a different outcome if their forwards had been able to capitalize on the many scoring chances they created.

Hong Kong manager JOSÉ RICARDO RAMBO commented positively on his players’ experience, and often stated how this tournament was the international debut for many of the squad’s young girls.

Finally, Mongolia (a team that debuted in July 2018) featured several new faces, some as young as 15. Despite three losses and no goal scored, the team led by manager GAMBOLED TSEDEVSUREN showed improvement throughout the competition.