The Korean women’s soccer team was completely defeated by world number 4 England in the first A match of the new year.
The Korean national team, led by coach Colin Bell (England), knelt 0-4 in the first leg of the Arnold Clark Cup against England held at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, England on the 17th (Korean time). Korea recorded 14 wins, 7 draws and 7 losses under Bell’s management. In his career with England, he continued to be at an absolute disadvantage with 1 draw and 2 losses.
The Arnold Clark Cup is an international friendly competition hosted by the Football Association of England. Korea, England, Italy (17th) and Belgium (20th) will play the full league to determine the championship. With the exception of Belgium, all of them are participating in the 2023 Women’s World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand, which will open in July, so for Korea, it is like taking the World Cup mock test properly.
Korea, ranked 15th in the world, played a difficult match against England, the women’s Euro 2022 champion, missing many key players such as Ji So-yeon (Suwon FC). Ji So-yeon kept the bench because her physical condition was not perfect due to her ankle injury. Core resources in the midfield, such as Cho So-hyun (Tottenham), Lee Young-joo (Madrid CFF), and Lee Min-ah (Hyundai Steel), could not even join the national team due to injuries. On the other hand, five players from England, who started in the Euro final against Germany in July last year, were included in the starting list. 토토사이트
Until the middle of the first half, Korea blocked England’s offensive well, but from the last minute, the odds began to decline. Georgia Stanway’s header in the 30th minute and Alessia Russo’s mid-range shot in the 38th minute threatened the Korean goal one after another. In Korea, Jang Seul-gi (Hyundai Steel) fouled Lauren James in the penalty box and awarded a penalty kick, and Stanway kicked the ball in the 40th minute.
In the 1st minute of the second half, Chloe Kelly’s shot was deflected by Lee Geum-min’s foot and was sucked into the goalpost, conceding an additional goal. Four minutes later, Alex Greenwood’s grounder cross was hit by Rousseau’s foot, and it split the net again. Korea, which was looking for a comeback goal, sat down by giving up a goal to James in the 33rd minute of the second half.
Im Seon-joo (Hyundai Jecheol), who made her A-match debut against Northern Mariana in August 2009, played her 100th A-match that day and became the 7th Korean female player to join the ‘Century Club’. .
Meanwhile, in the previous match, Belgium defeated 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 am on the 23rd.