adminColleen Bell’s side look to reach the Women’s World Cup Round of 16 for the first time in eight years
The South Korean women’s national soccer team, led by head coach Colleen Bell, will take on Colombia at 11 a.m. ET on July 25 at the Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney, Australia, in their first Group H match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023.
It’s time for head coach Colleen Bell’s ‘high intensity’ training to pay off. This is likely to be the last World Cup for the ‘Golden Generation’, who reached the round of 16 in Canada in 2015. Ji So-yeon, Cho So-hyun, and Lee Keum-min are still playing important roles in the national team.
The team traveled to Australia on Oct. 10 after its opening match against Haiti on Oct. 8. After about two weeks of acclimatization training, South Korea will continue its group stage schedule with matches against Colombia, Morocco, and Germany. With Germany, the second-ranked team in the FIFA rankings, as their final opponent, Korea will need to make the most of their first two matches to advance to the round of 16.
In the 32-nation tournament, the first and second place finishers in each group advance to the round of 16. A single loss to either Colombia or Morocco would put a red flag in their path to the round of 16. Expect Germany to top the group with a dominant performance, and the rest of the teams will have to play the “what if” game in terms of goals scored and goals against.
Colombia, ranked 25th in the FIFA rankings, is lower than South Korea, ranked 17th, but due to the irregular nature of women’s soccer, you can’t rely on the FIFA rankings. South Korea’s opponent, Haiti, was ranked 53rd in the FIFA rankings, but South Korea overcame a strong physical Haiti side to earn a 2-1 victory. Colombia, the defending Copa America finalists in 2022, are expected to have more quality than Haiti. 메이저놀이터
Colombia’s rough play is also a concern. A closed practice game between Colombia and Ireland on Sept. 15 was called off about 20 minutes into the game. This was due to rough play by Colombian players that resulted in injuries.
It will be interesting to see if Colin Belhoeven, who is looking for his best-ever quarterfinal finish, can get a win in his first match against Colombia, who are expected to finish second in the group.