Perfect start for Spurs trio in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup

So-hyun Cho, Kyah Simon and Jiali Tang are all through to the quarter-finals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India.

Indeed, their respective countries - South Korea, Australia and China - have racked up six wins out of six, scoring 38 goals and conceding none between them so far in a tournament that doubles up as the final qualifying tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Cho has started both matches for South Korea in Pune. They opened with a 3-0 win against Vietnam on Thursday - Cho played 88 minutes - and followed up with a 2-0 win against Myanmar on Monday. With six points, they cannot finish outside the top two in Group C. Their final group match is against Japan, who are also on six points, on Wednesday.

Kyah came off the bench on 71 minutes and scored twice as Australia opened up with a resounded 18-0 win against Indonesia in Mumbai last week. The forward started the Matildas’ second match against Philippines on Monday and looked like she’d scored the second goal in a 4-0 win, only for it to go down as an own goal. Again, with six points, Australia cannot finish outside the top two and face Thailand on Thursday.

Jiali has come off the bench in both of China’s matches so far in Group A. She played the final 12 minutes of a 4-0 win against Chinese Taipei last week before scoring twice in a 7-0 win against Iran in Mumbai on Monday. India have withdrawn, so Jiali and China go straight to their quarter-final match on Sunday.