2015 Women's world cup preview
By Steve Price
With the Women's World Cup in Canada about to kick-off, we look at the key players hoping to make the difference for the Korean National Team.
The 2015 Women’s World Cup kicks-off in Canada on June 6th. South Korea, ranked 18th in the world going into the tournament, are in group F along with Spain, Brazil, and Costa Rica. They play their first match against the Brazilians in Montreal on June 9th. This is their first appearance at the World Cup since the 2003 tournament in the USA where they lost all three games. Korea will be hoping to do better this time around. Striker Park Eun-Sun, who played in the 2003 tournament at the age of sixteen will be leading the line for Korea. The striker, who currently plays for Russian club WFC Rossiyanka, has an impressive record for the national team, scoring eighteen goals in thirty-two appearances, and won the golden boot in the 2014 Asian Cup in Vietnam. She has had a tough career and has had to show resilience through scoring droughts and accusations about her gender during periods of success, but the injury to striker Yeo Min-Ji means that she now has a chance to prove her critics wrong and succeed on the biggest stage. Korea’s star player is Chelsea midfielder Ji So-Yun who won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award this season in only her first year in English football. Fans of women’s football from around the world have been singing her praises, and her manager at Chelsea has said that she is one of the best midfielders in the world. There were worries when the world class midfielder took a knock in the final friendly match against the USA but she seems to have recovered and continued playing in that match. Another player that Korea are hoping will be fit is defender Shim Seo-Yeon who missed the Cyprus cup in March through injury, and was a concern for manager Yoon Deok-Yeo. However Shim seems to have recovered from her injury problems and played in the friendly match against the USA earlier this week. Korea are on good form going into the World Cup, with a draw against the USA at the end of May and two victories over Russia in April. They will be hoping to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Korea’s Group Stage Matches (Korean Time [GMT +8]):
10th June (Wednesday) 8am Korea vs Brazil
14th June (Sunday) 8am Korea vs Costa Rica
18th June (Thursday) 8am Korea vs Spain
The 2015 Women’s World Cup kicks-off in Canada on June 6th. South Korea, ranked 18th in the world going into the tournament, are in group F along with Spain, Brazil, and Costa Rica. They play their first match against the Brazilians in Montreal on June 9th. This is their first appearance at the World Cup since the 2003 tournament in the USA where they lost all three games. Korea will be hoping to do better this time around. Striker Park Eun-Sun, who played in the 2003 tournament at the age of sixteen will be leading the line for Korea. The striker, who currently plays for Russian club WFC Rossiyanka, has an impressive record for the national team, scoring eighteen goals in thirty-two appearances, and won the golden boot in the 2014 Asian Cup in Vietnam. She has had a tough career and has had to show resilience through scoring droughts and accusations about her gender during periods of success, but the injury to striker Yeo Min-Ji means that she now has a chance to prove her critics wrong and succeed on the biggest stage. Korea’s star player is Chelsea midfielder Ji So-Yun who won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award this season in only her first year in English football. Fans of women’s football from around the world have been singing her praises, and her manager at Chelsea has said that she is one of the best midfielders in the world. There were worries when the world class midfielder took a knock in the final friendly match against the USA but she seems to have recovered and continued playing in that match. Another player that Korea are hoping will be fit is defender Shim Seo-Yeon who missed the Cyprus cup in March through injury, and was a concern for manager Yoon Deok-Yeo. However Shim seems to have recovered from her injury problems and played in the friendly match against the USA earlier this week. Korea are on good form going into the World Cup, with a draw against the USA at the end of May and two victories over Russia in April. They will be hoping to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.
Korea’s Group Stage Matches (Korean Time [GMT +8]):
10th June (Wednesday) 8am Korea vs Brazil
14th June (Sunday) 8am Korea vs Costa Rica
18th June (Thursday) 8am Korea vs Spain