Colin Bell heads to the Land of the Rising Sun in search of a first-ever World Cup quarterfinal. Bell, Park Eun-sun and Cho So-hyun are determined to win at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Australia-New Zealand.
The Korea Women’s National Team, led by head coach Colleen Bell, will depart for Australia on Tuesday at 8 p.m. via Incheon International Airport Terminal 1. After arriving at the airport at 4:50 p.m., the team took commemorative photos and interviews before entering the departure hall to cheers from fans.
‘3rd World Cup’ Park Eun-sun “The World Cup is more exciting than nervous… We will give it our all to win”
“There are a lot of reporters here, so it feels real to play in the World Cup,” said Park Eun-sun, a “veteran” in front of the media. “Every time I went to the World Cup, I was more excited than nervous, and I still am,” he said, referring to his third World Cup appearance after the 2003 tournament in the United States and 2015 tournament in Canada. My goal is to do my best and perform well without getting injured.”
Park Eun-sun, who is actually playing in her last World Cup, said, “I played in Canada in 2015 with the idea that it would be my last, but now I have the opportunity to play again. I will give it my all and aim to win.”
The team pulled off a thrilling 2-1 victory over Haiti at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Aug. 8 in their final official pre-World Cup trial and send-off match. After conceding an early goal to Haiti’s fierce offense, Korea came back to win the match with a penalty kick (PK) equalizer by Ji So-yeon and a fantastic mid-range goal by Jang Seul-ki. Belo Horizonte will depart for Australia on a high note with a victory over Haiti, the ‘virtual Colombia’.
Park Eun-sun said, “The mood has improved a lot (with the win against Haiti), and the fans have come to see us, so our morale is high. We will prepare well and reward them with good results when we arrive in Australia,” Park said.
“Goals are important in the World Cup… I want to score goals and provide assists.”
“I’m leaving for the World Cup in front of a lot of cameras and fans for the first time in a long time, so it feels real. I’m looking forward to it and excited.” “The most important thing is to win the first game against Colombia. We want to beat Colombia and go through the group stage.”
The national team is known as the Golden Generation, including standout Ji So-yeon and Europeans Cho So-hyun (Tottenham) and Lee Keum-min (Brighton). “We have European players in the national team, but we also have domestic players who have played a lot of A matches and have a lot of experience,” says Cho. I am confident that if we prepare well together, we will have a good result.”
Cho wore the captain’s armband at the 2015 Canada and 2019 France tournaments. While Kim Hye-ri will be the captain of the team, Cho will also lead the juniors by example. “I’m not the captain this time, but I have experience and I’m older, so it’s important to lead the players well. With or without the armband, I will show and lead them well as a senior.”
When asked about her goals for the tournament, she said, “I hope we can go as high as we can go. These days, the national team is called the ‘golden generation,’ and I hope to achieve results that match that.” Cho previously scored a goal against Spain in the group stage of the 2015 World Cup in Canada to help South Korea women’s soccer reach the round of 16 for the first time. “If I get the chance, I want to score a goal and make an assist. I missed a lot of chances against Haiti, but goals are the most important thing in the World Cup. If I get the chance, I will definitely score a goal.”
“We’re all looking forward to the World Cup,” Bell says in Korean
“We are all looking forward to the World Cup,” Bell said in Korean. We know it’s going to be difficult, but we’ve been doing well with determination,” he said. “Beating Colombia is the only thing on my mind right now,” he said when asked about the goal 꽁머니.
“We have two weeks to prepare,” Bell said. We need this time for two reasons. First, we need time to sharpen the players, and second, we need to refine our tactics so that we are a difficult team to play against,” he explained.
“So far, we’ve prepared well and we’re looking at it positively. It’s a tournament, we don’t know what the outcome will be,” he said. “The most important thing for us is to win. “Every game is different, every game has its own characteristics and there are different situations. But what I emphasize to the players is that we have to win, and even if we don’t play well, we have to play a game that can bring us a win.”
South Korea to face Colombia in first group game on Friday… Aiming for the first ever quarterfinals!
South Korea, ranked 17th by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), has been drawn in Group H of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 alongside Colombia (25th), Morocco (72nd) and Germany (2nd). They will face Colombia in Sydney on Nov. 25, followed by Morocco on Nov. 30 in Adelaide and Germany on Nov. 3 in Brisbane.
Belo Horizonte will take 11 days off after arriving in Australia to acclimatize. On Sept. 16, the team will face the Netherlands, ranked No. 9 in the FIFA World Rankings, in a closed-door exhibition match.
This will be South Korea’s fourth appearance at the Women’s World Cup, having previously competed in 2003 in the United States, 2015 in Canada and 2019 in France. The team reached the round of 16 in Canada in 2015, its highest-ever finish, while the other two tournaments ended in group stage exits. After nearly four years of “high-intensity” training under the guidance of the women’s national soccer team’s first foreign head coach, the team is determined to go beyond the group stage and the round of 16 to reach the quarterfinals for the first time ever.