The Korean women’s national soccer team, led by coach Colin Bell, drew with North Korea, the ‘biggest challenge’, and got one step closer to the finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
South Korea drew 0-0 in the second match of Group B against North Korea in the 2024 Paris Olympics Asian second qualifying round held at the Xiamen Egret Stadium in Fujian Province, China on the 29th. Although they continued their winless record against opponents with 3 draws and 11 losses, there was some income. Korea, which accumulated 1 point on this day, comfortably maintained its lead in the group (4 points, 1 win, 1 draw, goal difference +9). They have the same number of points as 2nd place North Korea (1 win, 1 draw, goal difference +1), but they are far ahead in goal difference as they won 10-1 in the last match against Thailand.온라인카지노
The match on this day had a strong ‘revenge’ character. South Korea faced North Korea in the quarterfinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games, its youngest ever team, earlier this month and lost 1-4, failing to win a medal. Korea, who suffered from numerical inferiority as striker Son Hwa-yeon was sent off in the 41st minute of the first half due to an unclear decision, ended up losing a large number of goals in the second half. Coach Bell, who was angry after the game and asked, “Who organized this competition?” also showed his determination during this training session, saying, “I will find a way to win.”
In order to win, an offensive power strong enough to shake up the North Korean camp was needed. Coach Bell aimed for scoring opportunities by appointing ‘young blood’ Casey Eugene Fair (16, Independent) and Cheon Garam (21, KSPO), who both scored hat tricks in the match against Thailand on the 26th, as starting strikers.
However, the ‘balance of 0’ was not broken until the end of the game. Korea, which had a ball possession rate of 40%-60% in the first half, failed to show impressive offensive power in the second half. With the number of shots on target being 3-13, they were unable to create a goal chance, and even when they had the ball, they were unable to easily break through the defense, so they only hovered near the halfway line.
Only goalkeeper Kim Jeong-mi’s super save shined. After entering the second half, North Korean attackers broke through to the goal and hit several fierce shots, but Kim Jung-mi did not lose concentration and steadily caught the ball, overcoming the risk of conceding a goal.
Now the next opponent is China. Korea will play its final group match against China on the 1st of next month. Korea is inferior to China with 5 wins, 7 draws, and 29 losses, but it has an advantageous position in this tournament. Since China lost 1-2 to North Korea in the last two games, they can get closer to a ticket to Paris as long as they prevent the goals conceded.
In this tournament, 12 teams are divided into 3 groups of 4 teams and the 3 first place teams in each group and the 2nd place team in each group advance to the 3rd preliminary round. In the third preliminary round, two teams each play home and away, and the top two countries advance to the Olympic finals. Korea has yet to advance to the Olympic finals.