The first Olympic qualifier match against Thailand on the 26th… After meeting North Korea and China,
only two tickets to the Paris Olympics were given to Asia.
Colin Belho, who has already shed tears of regret twice this year, is on his way to advance to the Olympic finals for the first time in his history. This is the last schedule for the women’s national team this year. It is not an easy hurdle, and if you fail this time, it will be difficult to avoid harsh evaluation.
The Korean women’s national soccer team, led by coach Bell, will play the first match of Group B of the 2024 Paris Olympics Asia 2nd qualifying group match against Thailand at Xiamen Egret Stadium in Fujian Province, China at 4:30 pm (Korean time) on the 26th.
For Korea, which dreams of competing in the Olympic finals for the first time in its history, this is a game that must be held at all costs.
Only 12 teams can advance to the Olympic finals. Only two teams from Asia can participate. Compared to the Women’s World Cup, where 32 teams participate, the gates are narrow. Accordingly, Korean women’s soccer, which has advanced to the World Cup four times, has never made it to the Olympics.
A total of 12 teams will participate in the Asian second qualifying round, divided into three groups of four teams. The three first-place teams from each group will advance to the semifinals, and the team with the best performance among the three second-place teams will join. Even after reaching the semifinals, the tournament will be played home and away, and the two winning teams will be able to board a plane to Paris next year.
Korea must win against tough teams in the group stage. Korea, ranked 20th in the FIFA rankings, will clash with Thailand (46th), North Korea (no ranking), and China (15th) in turn.
In Thailand, Korea has the upper hand in terms of objective power, but North Korea and China are strong teams recognized by the world and are one step above Korea.
In particular, they suffered difficulties as of now, with only one win (3 draws, 16 losses) against North Korea. The only victory was 18 years ago, in 2005. Last month, at the Hangzhou Asian Games, they were defeated 1-4 by North Korea.
Their record against China is also inferior with 5 wins, 7 draws, and 29 losses. After winning 1-0 in 2015, they have not been able to get past the score with 3 draws and 6 losses in the past 8 years.
It is not an easy challenge, but we must overcome it.
Bell, which set sail in 2019, has received incomparable support over the past four years. The players consistently participated in the warm-up matches that they had been longing for during the A-match period. In particular, he gained experience by playing away evaluation matches against strong teams such as Canada, New Zealand, and England. In addition, we prepared for the big competition by conducting convocation training several times.토스카지노 주소
Nevertheless, Belho was eliminated from the Women’s World Cup with 1 draw and 2 losses in the group stage, and shed tears at the Asian Games after being completely defeated by North Korea in the quarterfinals. It is no longer a situation where there will be applause of consolation leading to ‘overcoming the harsh environment’.
Coach Bell must prove his abilities in this Olympic qualifier, and his team must also show the results of all their hard work. Coach Bell and his players are all well aware of this.
Coach Bell said, “North Korea and China are relatively strong, but mentality is important,” and expressed his determination, “We will aim to win every game.”