The women’s national soccer team, led by head coach Colin Bell, lost 0-1 in the second Group H match against Morocco at Hindmash Stadium in Adelaide, Australia, at 1:30 p.m. on the 30th (Korea Standard Time).
South Korea (2 losses and 0 points), which lost 0-2 in the first game against Colombia on the 25th, lost two consecutive games.
Morocco (1 win, 1 loss and 3 points), which advanced to the World Cup finals for the first time, reported its historic first win. He also relieved the pain of losing 0-6 to Germany in the first round.
South Korea, ranked 17th in the FIFA rankings, was in trouble after being hit by Morocco (72nd), the lowest ranked team in Group H and the first World Cup finals. Depending on the outcome of the subsequent match between Germany and Colombia, elimination from the group stage can be confirmed.
In particular, Belho’s final opponent is Germany, the second-ranked FIFA and the strongest team in the group, making it virtually difficult to advance to the round of 16 at the World Cup for the first time in eight years since the 2015 Canadian Games.
South Korea and Germany will face off at 7 p.m. on the 3rd of next month.
The two teams, which lost side by side in the first round, desperately needed a victory on the day to advance to the round of 16, which is given up to second place in the group.
Bell replaced the gatekeeper. Instead of Yoon Young-gle (BK Heken), who started in the first round, he set up the oldest Jungmi Kim (Hyundai Steel). In the match against Colombia, Yoon Young-gle failed to hit Linda Caicedo’s shot properly and lost an additional goal.
Park Eun-sun (Seoul City Hall) participated in the front line instead of Choi Yu-ri (Hyundai Steel), forming a two-top with Son Hwa-yeon (Hyundai Steel).
An unexpected variable occurred in the defense.
Instead of Shim Seo-yeon (Suwon FC), who allowed the first penalty kick for a handball foul in the match against Colombia, Bell planned to set Hong Hye-ji (Hyundai Steel) as a central defender and match Lim Sun-joo (Hyundai Steel) and Kim Hye-ri (Hyundai Steel).
However, Lim Sun-joo was injured in the process of warming up ahead of the game. In a hurry, Shim Seo-yeon was decided to start again.
Jang Seul-ki (Hyundai Steel) and Choo Hyo-joo (Suwon FC) were in charge of the side defense, while Cho So-hyun (Tottenham), Ji So-yeon (Suwon FC) and Lee Geum-min (Brighton) were in the midfield.
Six minutes into the game, South Korea lost a point to Yvesam Zredi. He flew a low cross from the right side and connected it with a sensational header to shake South Korea’s net.
It was Morocco’s first World Cup final goal in its history.
In the 13th minute of the first half, Hong Hye-ji cleared the opponent’s threatening cross with her head. Morocco’s attack development was faster than expected, and the pass play was much more stable.
South Korea used Park Eun-sun’s right to attack, but had a hard time opening the goal due to Morocco’s dense defense.
In the 20th minute of the first half, Choo Hyo-joo’s shot headed for Son Hwa-yeon, and Son Hwa-yeon touched it slightly, but it was far off the goal. The ball was so fast that it was difficult to connect with a proper shot.
In the 26th minute of the first half, Park Eun-sun flew Ji So-yeon’s cross and connected it strongly with her head, but it went out of the net.
It seemed to set the flow after losing a point, but Morocco’s counterattack was also threatening. Morocco’s development of aiming for the Korean goal with two to three passes was impressive.
South Korea finished the first half trailing 0-1.
With the start of the second half, Bell tried to change by excluding Son Hwa-yeon and Choo Hyo-joo and putting in Moon Mira (Suwon FC) and Choi Yuri (Hyundai Steel).
South Korea also used the height in the set piece situation in the second half, but it was difficult to seize the opportunity as Moroccan defenders competed with two to three players each.
In the 24th minute of the second half, veteran striker Park Eun-sun, who showed his fighting spirit from the front, was called in and Jeon Eun-ha (Suwon FC) was put in. Then, in the 39th minute of the second half, Casey Eugene Fair (PDA) was deployed, adding more strength to the attack.
In the 42nd minute of the second half, Fair attempted a left-footed shot following a turning inside the penalty box, but slightly turned away from the goal.
The players pushed hard until the end for the equalizer, but failed to open Morocco’s goal.
South Korea attempted 14 shots, but there was no effective shot.