The South Korean women’s national soccer team won a pleasant victory from its first official match in 2024, with consecutive goals from its flagship Ji So-yeon (Seattle Lane) and rising star Casey Eugene Fair (Angel City).
The national team, led by coach Colin Bell, beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in a friendly match at Football City Stadium outside Lisbon, Portugal, on the 25th (Korea time).
The match will be the first official match for Bell in 2024.
The Czech Republic is ranked 28th in the FIFA world, lower than Korea (20th).
Ji So-yeon, who increased her A-match appearance record to 155 games, opened the Czech Republic’s goal 16 minutes into the match.
Ji So-yeon finished the free kick Kim Hye-ri got near the penalty arc.
The ball that left Ji So-yeon’s foot crossed the defensive wall and hit the crossbar and shook the net.
It’s Ji So-yeon’s 70th A-match score.
Bellejo, who gained momentum, scored one more goal at the start of the second half.
This time, Pair, born in 2007 to a Korean mother and an American father, is here.
The pair, who started dribbling from the left side of the front area, overpowered Antónier Starova after a physical fight and quickly advanced to the gate and shook the net with a right-footed shot.
It is the fourth goal that Fair has scored in the national team uniform.
The Czech Republic followed one goal in the eighth minute of the second half.
Eva Bartonova finished Katerina Svitkova’s long pass with a sensational right footed shot to open South Korea’s goal.
He allowed a comeback goal, but Bellho continued to attack without giving up the lead afterwards, and kept a 2-1 score.
South Korea will play its second warm-up match against the home team Portugal in Estoril on the 28th.
Portugal’s FIFA ranking is 21st, similar to Korea’s.
In 2024, there will be no major tournaments featuring the women’s national team.
However, from a long-term perspective, Bell plans to run the team in preparation for the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup and 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.