S. Korean women go winless in World Cup tuneup tournament in England

All News 14:00 February 23, 2023

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- South Korea lost all three matches in a tuneup tournament for the FIFA Women's World Cup this month in England, unable to muster much offense against three European foes.

South Korea suffered a 2-1 loss to Italy in the final match of the Arnold Clark Cup in Bristol, England, on Wednesday (local time), with Martina Rosucci scoring the last-gasp winner for the 17th-ranked Italy.

Ji So-yun had the lone goal for the 15th-ranked South Korea.

In this Action Images photo via Reuters, South Korean players celebrate a goal by Ji So-yun against Italy during the teams' final match at the Arnold Clark Cup at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, England, on Feb. 22, 2023. (Yonhap)

South Korea opened the four-nation invitational tournament with a 4-0 loss to world No. 4 England last Thursday. Three days later, South Korea fell to world No. 20 Belgium 2-1, despite opening the scoring in the 10th minute courtesy of Lee Geum-min.

South Korea ended up being the only winless team at the Arnold Clark Cup. They scored the fewest goals in the event with two, and tied Belgium for most goals conceded with eight.

Coached by Colin Bell, South Korea will play in Group H at the Women's World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to Aug. 20.

In this AFP photo, Ji So-yun of South Korea (L) tries to hold off Benedetta Orsi of Italy during the teams' final match at the Arnold Clark Cup at Ashton Gate Stadium in Bristol, England, on Feb. 22, 2023. (Yonhap)

South Korea will kick things off against 27th-ranked Colombia on July 25 in Sydney and then take on world No. 76 Morocco on July 30 in Adelaide.

South Korea will finish their group play against No. 2 Germany on Aug. 3 in Brisbane. The Taegeuk Ladies will try to reach the knockouts for just the second time, after first doing so in 2015 in Canada. At the 2003 World Cup in the United States and the 2019 tournament in France, South Korea lost all three group matches.