Those times seemed a distance away. With no professional league and a team made up of amateurs, the men's national team has more often than not been sheer fodder for their larger continental rivals to build up their goal difference. During the preliminary qualifying round for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan? they finished their group with no points, six defeats, no goals for and 25 against.

However, progress is being made with the island's football. A football league was organised in 2004, where the best local players can compete with others in a centralised way. Some decent results have emerged - a 2-1 victory over Singapore in an Olympic qualifier and an easy 3-0 win over East Timor in Asian Cup qualifying being the most notable.

The side showed their rapid growth under coach Li Bohong when they beat Macao surprisingly easily 6-1 aggregate in their preliminary Asian Zone qualifying tie - 3-0 at home and 3-1 away.

Furthermore, in 2004, Chinese Taipei hosted the FIFA Futsal World Championship and they proved to be quick learners of the game. Starting with a 0-12 defeat against Egypt, they ended their campaign on a high. Although they lost to Ukraine, 2-7, Chinese Taipei brought their fans much delight when they scored their first goal in the final of a FIFA World Championship.

This has all but whetted the appetite of players and fans alike for a better football future.