Casey Eugene Fair celebrates goal
A nice win in the first official match of the year 2nd match against home team Portugal 3 days later
The Korean women’s national soccer team achieved a pleasant victory in the first official game of 2024, led by consecutive goals from star Ji So-yeon (Seattle Reign) and promising star Casey Eugene Fair (Angel City).
The national team led by coach Colin Bell defeated the Czech Republic 2-1 in a friendly match held at Football City Stadium on the outskirts of Lisbon, Portugal on the 25th (Korean time).
This match is Belho’s first official match in 2024.The Czech Republic ranks 28th in the FIFA world rankings, lower than Korea (20th).
Coach Bell, who deployed Fair and Choi Yu-ri (Birmingham City) as the top two, placed experienced veterans such as Ji So-yeon and Cho So-hyun (Birmingham City) in midfield to support the offensive line.
Center back Lim Sun-ju (Incheon Hyundai Steel), who was appointed as a starting player in last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, injured her knee’s anterior cruciate ligament during training and withdrew on the 23rd, and Lee Young-ju (Madrid CFF) filled the void.
Lee Young-joo, who played as a central defender, formed a three-back with Shim Seo-yeon (Suwon FC) and Kim Hye-ri (Incheon Hyundai Steel) to protect the backline.
Lee Eun-young (Hwacheon KSPO), who was selected first overall in last year’s women’s professional soccer WK League rookie draft, played on the right side, Chu Hyo-joo (Incheon Hyundai Steel) played on the left side, and Jang Seul-gi (Gyeongju KHNP), who played in 100 A matches on this day, played on the left side. ) was appointed as a midfielder.
The eldest sister, Kim Jeong-mi (Incheon Hyundai Steel), born in 1984, guarded the goal.
Ji So-yeon, who extended her international appearance record to 155 games, opened the goal for the Czech Republic 16 minutes after the start of the game.
Ji So-yeon
Ji So-yeon completed the free kick that Kim Hye-ri took near the penalty arc.The ball left Ji So-yeon’s feet, crossed the defensive wall, hit the crossbar, and shook the net.
This is Ji So-yeon’s 70th goal in the A match.
Belho gained momentum and scored one more goal at the start of the second half.
This time, Fair, born in 2007 to a Korean mother and American father, came out.
Pair, who started dribbling from the left side of the forward area, overpowered Antonie Starova after a struggle, then advanced to the goal line and hit the net with a right-footed shot.
This is Fair’s fourth goal wearing the Korean national team uniform.
The Czech Republic followed up with a goal in the 8th minute of the second half.Eva Bartonova finished Katerina Svitkova’s long pass with a sensational right-footed shot, opening the goal for Korea.
A make-up goal was allowed, but even after that, Belho did not give up the initiative and continued to attack, maintaining the score of 2-1.
Korea, which achieved a comfortable victory, 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.
There will be no major competitions in which the women’s national team will participate in 2024.However, from a long-term perspective, Coach Bell plans to manage the team in preparation for the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup and the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup. 스포츠토토맨