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‘Soyeon Ji’s multi-goal’ women’s soccer wins Vietnam 3-0 in Asian Cup first leg

The Korean women’s soccer team, led by coach Colin Bell, has taken a pleasant first step towards the first Asian summit in history.

South Korea defeated Vietnam 3-0 in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup Group C first leg match held at Serisic Chaprapati Sports Complex in Pune, India on the 21st (Korean time).

South Korea scored the first goal in the first four minutes and succeeded in dominating the baseline. Ace So-yeon Ji (Chelsea) received an assist from Yu-ri Choi (Hyundai Steel) and shook the Vietnamese goal with an accurate right-footed shot.

picture explanationWomen’s national football team midfielder Ji So-yeon scored a multi-goal in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Group C match against Vietnam held in India on the 21st (Korean time), leading Korea to a 3-0 victory. Photo: Courtesy of the Korea Football Association

South Korea scored a lucky additional goal three minutes later and fled. In the 7th minute of the first half, the Vietnam defender’s own goal widened the gap to 2-0.

Korea did not slow down their attack in the second half, but they faltered amidst bad luck in the goal and the save of the opposing goalkeeper.

However, in the 36th minute of the second half, Ji So-yeon calmly scored a penalty kick from an opponent’s handball foul, making the score 3-0.

Afterwards, South Korea withdrew from Vietnam’s pursuit with a generous lead. From the first match, they won by three goals and turned on the green light to advance to the quarterfinals.

Prior to the match, Korea experienced a bad news: Kim Hye-ri (Hyundai Steel) and Park Ye-eun (Han Su-won) were excluded from the roster due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), but the victory over the Vietnam War made it over a hurdle.

Meanwhile, Korea is aiming for a second straight win in the second round of the group stage in Myanmar on the 24th. A total of 12 countries will participate in this tournament and will be divided into three groups to play the group stage.

The top two countries from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams in each group advance to the quarterfinals. In addition, only 5th place in the final ranking can qualify for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup finals.

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