Colombia keeps hopes alive with 2-1 win over Germany
Final group game against group favorite Germany on Nov. 3 must win by five goals or more
South Korea’s women’s soccer team suffered a second straight defeat at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023, falling to Morocco, one of the weakest teams in the group. Their chances of advancing to the round of 16 are now slim.
Head coach Colleen Bell’s side lost 0-1 to Morocco in their second Group H match of the tournament at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide, Australia, on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. ET.
It was the second straight defeat for South Korea (2W, 0L), which lost its first game, 0-2, against Colombia on Sept. 25.
Morocco (1W, 1D, 3P), playing in their first-ever World Cup, recorded a historic first win. They avenged a 0-6 loss to Germany in the first round.
South Korea, ranked 17th in the FIFA rankings, found themselves in a tough spot in Group H as they were stunned by Morocco (72nd), the lowest-ranked team and first-time World Cup qualifiers.
In their next game, Colombia pulled off an upset to beat Germany 2-1, leaving them with a slim chance of reaching the round of 16.
Colombia is in first place with two wins (6 points), followed by Germany and Morocco (with 1 win, 1 loss, and 3 points) in second and third place.
The top two finishers in each group advance to the round of 16.
Belho’s final opponent, however, will be Germany, the two-time World Cup champions and FIFA’s No. 2 ranked team in the group.
If last-place South Korea wins its final game and Colombia beats Morocco, leaving all three teams with one win and two losses, Belo Horizonte will have to settle for goal difference.
Here again, Belho’s prospects are bleak. Germany’s goal differential is +5, Morocco’s is -5, and South Korea’s is ?3.
South Korea needs to beat Germany by more than five goals. Even then, it won’t matter if Morocco wins or draws against Colombia.
South Korea and Germany will face off next month on March 3 at 7pm.
Both teams, who lost their first round matches side by side, need a win to advance to the round of 16, which is awarded to the second best team in the group.
Bell made two changes to his lineup. Instead of Yoon Young-gl (BK Hecken), who started in the first game, she put her eldest sister Kim Jeong-mi (Hyundai Steel) up front. Yoon had conceded an extra goal against Colombia when she failed to clear Linda Caicedo’s shot.
In the front line, Park Eun-sun (Seoul City Hall) replaced Choi Yoo-ri (Hyundai Steel) to form a duo with Son Hwa-yeon (Hyundai Steel).
There was an unexpected change in the defense.
Instead of Shim Seo-yeon (Suwon FC), who conceded an early penalty against Colombia for a handball foul, Bell planned to use Hong Hye-ji (Hyundai Steel) in the center of defense to partner with Lim Sun-joo (Hyundai Steel) and Kim Hye-ri (Hyundai Steel).
However, while warming up for the match, Lim went down with an injury, and Shim Seo-yeon was quickly recalled to the starting lineup.
Jang Seul-ki (Hyundai Steel) and Chu Hyo-joo (Suwon FC) were in charge of the flank defense, while Cho So-hyun (Tottenham), Ji So-yeon (Suwon FC), and Lee Keum-min (Brighton) were in the midfield.
South Korea conceded the first goal just six minutes into the match through Ibtisam Zaidi. A low cross from the right flank was met with a sensational header that rattled the Korean net.
It was Morocco’s first ever World Cup goal.
In the 13th minute, Hong Hye-ji headed away a threatening cross from the opposition. Morocco’s offense was faster than expected, and their passing was much more stable.
South Korea tried to take advantage of Park Eun-sun’s delivery, but they struggled to find the back of the net against Morocco’s dense defense.
In the 20th minute, Choo Hyo-joo’s shot found Son Hwa-yeon, who got a touch on it, but it was well wide of the goal. The ball was too fast for her to connect with a decent shot.
In the 26th minute, Park Eun-sun headed a cross from Ji So-yeon with her body, but it went wide of the goal.
After the goal, Korea seemed to gain momentum, but Morocco’s counterattacks were also threatening. It was impressive to see the Moroccans aiming for the Korean goal with two or three passes.
Korea went into the half trailing 0-1.
Coach Bell made a change at the start of the second half, removing Son Hwa-yeon and Choo Hyo-joo and introducing Moon Mi-ra (Suwon FC) and Choi Yuri (Hyundai Steel).
Korea continued to use their height on set pieces in the second half, but struggled to take advantage of their chances as the Moroccan defense played two to three players.
In the 24th minute of the second half, they brought on veteran forward Park Eun-sun for her hard work up front and added Jeon Eun-ha (Suwon FC). Then, in the 39th minute, they brought on Casey Eugene Fair (PDA) to give the offense a final push.
In the 42nd minute, Fair found Hoesim with a left-footed shot after a turnover inside the penalty box, but it went just wide of the goal.
The players pushed hard for an equalizer down the stretch, but were unable to find the back of the Moroccan net.
South Korea had 14 shots on goal, but none were on target.
Colombia took the lead through Linda Caicedo in the seventh minute of the second half, but gave up a late equalizer through Alexandra Pope in the 44th minute.
After it looked like the game would end 1-1, Manuela Banegas scored a theatrical header off a corner set piece in stoppage time. 토토사이트 A draw would have sealed South Korea’s elimination. For Belho, Colombia’s win kept the spark alive in the Round of 16.