The Korean women’s soccer team collapsed in vain in the evaluation match against New Zealand.
The Korean women’s national team, led by coach Colin Bell, lost 0-2 in the second leg of the friendly match against New Zealand held at the Goyang Sports Complex in Gyeonggi Province on the 30th, conceding consecutive goals in the last minute of the match. It was the first time in 25 years that Korea lost to New Zealand in the women’s national team match (0-1) in March 1996.
Manager Bell places So-yeon Ji (Chelsea Women), So-hyeon Cho (Tottenham), and Young-joo Lee (Hyundai Steel) in the midfield, and Hyo-joo Choo (Suwon City Corporation), Min-ji Yeo (Han Su-won), and Hye-ri Kim (Hyundai Steel) frequently switch in the front. I took out the -3-3 tactic.
The match was dominated by Korea. He created many scoring opportunities from the beginning, but was blocked by goalkeeper Victoria Esson’s save and failed to score. In the 13th minute of the first half, Jang Seul-gi’s cross from the left finished with Yeo Min-ji’s diving header, but it was blocked by Victoria’s save. After that, Ji So-yeon’s surprise mid-range shot hit the crossbar and threatened New Zealand with a series of shots.
The victory went to New Zealand, who focused on defense and aimed for a counterattack. New Zealand’s counterattack in the 38th minute of the second half, Paige Sae-cheol finished the lob pass from the left to the space behind Korea’s defense by Olivia Chance and shook the net with a left-footed non-stop shot. Two minutes later, Chance’s cross from the right was connected by Gaby Lenny to score an additional goal.
With this defeat, Korea finished their two consecutive matches against New Zealand with 1 win and 1 loss. Bellho will challenge for the first ever championship at the 2022 Asian Football Federation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup to be held in January next year. There is a possibility that one more call-up drill will be held within the year as the defense problem was revealed in the last evaluation match.
Dongsoon Choi reporter dosool@hankookilbo.com
Issues you may be interested in
.
