The Korean women’s soccer team was completely defeated by England, 4th in the FIFA World Ranking, in the first game of the World Cup year, realizing the gap with the world’s strongest players.
The Korean national team (ranked 15th), coached by Colin Bell (England), lost heavily to England 0-4 in the first leg of the 2023 Arnold Clark Cup held at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, England.
Korea, where key players such as Ji So-yeon could not come forward due to injuries, took a high-level ‘World Cup Mock Test’ against England, the ‘European Champion’ who is 11 steps higher in the world rankings and won the Women’s Euro 2022 (2022 European Championships). .
Korea will participate in the finals of the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which is just five months away.
The Arnold Clark Cup is an international friendly competition organized by the Football Association of England.
Four countries, including Korea, England, Italy, and Belgium, are holding a full league to determine the winner, and the three countries except Belgium are Australia and New Zealand, participating in the Women’s World Cup, so it is a good opportunity to strengthen their strength and gain experience.
In the previous match, Belgium beat Italy 2-1.
Korea will play the second match against Belgium at 3:15 am on the 20th and the third match against Italy at 1:45 on the 23rd.
Korea has recorded 14 wins, 7 draws and 7 losses since Bell’s coaching system came into being.
The national team’s ‘ace’ Ji So-yeon, who suffered an ankle injury, kept the bench because she was not in perfect physical condition, and players who had been in charge of the midfield, such as Jo So-hyun, Lee Young-ju, and Lee Min-ah, could not even join the national team due to injuries, so Korea faced a difficult match. had to unfold.
Cho So-hyun, who plays on the English stage, cheered on her teammates from the stands.
Five of the players who started in the Euro final against Germany in July last year started for England that day.
Backed by the one-sided support of the home crowd, England drove hard from the first half, but Korea held up well with a solid defense.
However, the cracks안전놀이터 started to go away from the end of the first half.
Georgia Stanway’s header landed in the upper net in the 30th minute of the first half, and Alessia Russo’s mid-range shot hit the post in the 38th minute.
Korea eventually conceded the first goal on Stanway’s penalty kick in the 40th minute of the first half.
Previously, Jang Seul-gi committed a foul on Lauren James who was breaking through in the penalty area.
In the first minute of the second half, Korea conceded an additional goal before reorganizing the line.
Chloe Kelly’s shot from the left side of the penalty kick was deflected by Lee Geum-min’s foot and was sucked into the net.
In the 5th minute of the second half, Russo got his foot on Alex Greenwood’s cross from the left and made it 3-0.
South Korea was one-sided, but in the 23rd minute of the second half, Sohn Hwa-yeon’s bold mid-range shot aimed to make up for the goal.
However, in the 33rd minute of the second half, James conceded another goal with a shot from the front of the goal area.