Vietnam won their first match 3-0… 2nd match against Myanmar on the 24th
Coach Colin Bell of the Korean women’s soccer team, who won the first match of the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, expressed satisfaction with the result and was determined to continue the good flow.
Coach Bell said at a press conference after the first round of Group C match against Vietnam held at Siri Sib Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India on the 21st (local time), “I’m happy to start the tournament with a victory.
It would have been nice if we continued the momentum in the first half and scored two or three more goals to solidify the victory, but it was a sure and just victory.”
On this day, Korea scored the winning goal from Ji So-yeon (Chelsea) in the 4th minute, an own goal in the 7th minute, and Ji So-yeon’s penalty wedge goal in the 36th minute of the second half to win the match 3-0.
It is a smooth start for Korea, aiming for the first ever final and championship by entering the fifth place in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup and surpassing the third place with the best record of this tournament.
“We had to move the ball as much as possible to get the opponent to move,” Bell said.
In the first 10 to 15 minutes, that part worked out well and we scored two goals.”
Regarding the difficulty in scoring additional goals even after scoring two goals early and leading the game, he said, “I stopped the moving ball too quickly.
There were too many touches.
It made a difficult situation that could not be solved simply.”
He also expressed regret, saying, “Sometimes we hit the post, and the opposing goalkeeper blocked our good attack.”
Still, Bell placed more importance on the outcome.
“It’s our first game since November of last year, so we needed to find a rhythm,” he said.
He said, “Ji So-yeon scored an important goal and was involved in a lot of build-up plays.
I’m glad that you worked hard,” he encouraged, and “Choi Yuri worked hard too.
He is an important player for us.”
The national team will play the second game against Myanmar on the 24th.
“Both teams are well organized defensively,” Bell said.
We expected to approach the game in a similar direction, so we tried to prepare similarly for the first and second games.
We will prepare in detail while analyzing Gyeonggi-do.”
Korea is holding this competition in the midst of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
Goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul (Gyeongju Hansuwon), defender Kim Hyeri (Incheon Hyundai Steel), midfielders Park Yeeun (Han Suwon) and Jo Mijin (Korea University) were confirmed and were excluded from the list that day.
Bell said, “All of our players are in good health,” although the outbreak of COVID-19 in the team “can affect us throughout the tournament.”
/yunhap news
