The women’s soccer team, led by coach Colin Bell, will play Morocco and the 2023 International Football Federation (FIFA) Australia-New Zealand Women’s World Cup group stage group H second leg at Coopers Stadium in Adelaide, Australia at 1:30 pm (Korean time) on the 30th.
Belho lost 0-2 in the first leg against Colombia held on the 25th. Korea, which focused on the first game and prepared for the tournament, was given a red flag to advance to the round of 16. Initially, Germany, second in the FIFA rankings, was considered the strongest in Group H. Korea was realistically likely to compete for second place with Colombia, but after losing the first match, they faced a burdensome second match.
Their opponent in the second game, Morocco (72nd), is 55 places lower than Korea (17th). Joe is classified as the weakest. Morocco fell helplessly 0-6 in the first match against Germany. In the ‘Power Ranking of 32 World Cup participating countries after the first game’ by CBS Sports in the US, Korea ranked 23rd and Morocco ranked last. Korea is an opponent that must be defeated.
There is a chance to win only by reducing ‘mistakes’. In the match against Colombia, there were several blundering plays that led to Bell’s blaming remarks. Shim Seo-yeon (Suwon FC) gave away the first goal in a penalty kick due to a handball foul, and goalkeeper Yun Young-geul (BK Heken) allowed a second goal through a punching mistake. It may be considered that luck did not follow, but it is evaluated that it is a scene that should not have appeared for a team aiming to advance to the tournament.
Morocco is highly likely to attack Korea with the tactic of “defense first, then counterattack” aiming for a shot after crouching down. The key to the match against Morocco is how Belho, whose weak defense has been pointed out as a weakness, will build up his teamwork in the remaining time. In addition, the task is to find a way to break the opponent’s dense defense. Pattern play accompanied by promised movements between strikers, such as crosses and cutbacks from the side, is expected to be effective.
Morocco must win unconditionally. Korea’s final group stage opponent is Germany. With Germany and Colombia winning one game each, Korea has to win the second game to be able to count the ‘number of cases’. Once we defeat Morocco, we can continue to hold on to the slightest hope.
Even if you win, the situation is not rosy. Even assuming that Germany beats Colombia, there is a high chance that Korea will get a ticket to the round of 16 only if it collects 3 points in the 3rd game. It is realistic to expect Germany to relax in the last game against Korea after winning the second game and confirming their progress to the round of 16. If Colombia, which is considered inferior to Germany, causes a surprise by defeating Germany, Korea’s situation could get worse. 안전놀이터
Korea has to earn points in the final match against Germany in the group stage to have hopes of advancing to the tournament, and to do so, it is best to beat Morocco first and continue the good momentum. If they lose to Morocco, Korea will have the disgrace of being eliminated from the group stage for the second consecutive World Cup.