This article is part of the Guardian’s Women’s World Cup 2023 Experts’ Network, a cooperation between some of the best media organisations from the 32 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 20 July.
Overview
Since Colin Bell’s appointment as manager after the 2019 World Cup, South Korea have demonstrated more aggression and intensity in their game. Bell led the team to the final of the 2022 Asian Cup in India, where they lost 3-2 to China. Reaching the semi-finals meant South Korea sealed their place at the World Cup. “I believe the team has definitely improved from that Asian Cup,” he told fifa.com. “On a good day, we are capable of beating anyone.”
This will be Korea’s third consecutive World Cup and the Taegeuk Ladies are determined to improve on their results of four years ago in France, where they went out in the group stages after losing three out of three.
Striker Lee Geum-min, who plays for Brighton, recently explained how Bell has helped the team improve. “He is very passionate. He changed our team a lot,” she told fifa.com “Being from England, he adapted to a new culture and new environment. He respects Korea Republic very much. He has tried to adapt to our culture. He is very energetic. He respects the way we used to train and trains our team to be competitive.”
The former Chelsea midfielder Ji So-yun agrees that the team has grown in confidence since Bell took over and is hungry for success, in what she feels will be her last World Cup. “We are prepared to show we are a much stronger side than what we used to be,” she said. “We have grown as a group and gained more experience so I’m sure we can compete.”
The coach
Colin Bell became the first foreign coach to take charge of the Korean women’s team in October 2019. His main football philosophy is high intensity, which he adopts even in training sessions. The English coach won the Uefa Women’s Champions League with Frankfurt in 2015, managed the Republic of Ireland women’s team from 2017 to 2019, and was assistant head coach of Huddersfield’s men’s team before taking the Korea job. He continues to learn the Korean language and has conducted some of his recent press conferences in Korean.
Star player
Ji So-yun was Korea’s youngest player, making her debut aged 15 in 2006, and has gone on to become the country’s all-time top scorer, overtaking the men’s Cha Bum-kun. She is nicknamed “Ji Messi’’ for her technical ability and moments of brilliance. Ji is a seven-time winner of the KFA Player of the Year award and became the first South Korean in England’s WSL when she joined Chelsea in 2015. Ji made the PFA WSL Team of the Year five times and won 11 trophies with the club.
Rising star
Born to an American father and South Korean mother, Casey Phair is the national side’s first mixed-race player. Aged just 16 – and 15 when first called into the senior set-up – she was a surprise pick for this tournament but clearly has a huge future. “She’s selected because I think she can help the team now, like every other player,” Bell said. “She is going not as a passenger but as a valuable member of the squad.”
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Did you know?
Many players have popular nicknames according to their position or playing styles. The most well known is “Ji Messi” for Ji So-yun, while Cho So-hyun has been nicknamed “Chottuso” after former Italy midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and Kang Chae-rim has been called “Rimbappé” after Kylian Mbappé.
Standing of women’s football in South Korea?
A 2021 reality TV show featuring female celebrities learning to play football called “Kick a Goal” gained popularity nationwide. Many sports stars, including legends of the men’s game, have made appearances to promote the women’s game. WK League match attendance has continued to rise over the past year and after signing Ji So-yun from Chelsea in 2022, Suwon FC Women became the first WK League club to charge for matchday tickets.
Realistic goal for the World Cup?
The main aim would have to be at least qualifying for the knockout phase. After three losses in the group stage in France four years ago, the team is determined to recreate the joys of the 2015 World Cup, when they came from behind to beat Spain and reach the last 16.
Written by Rachel Hur for Sports Donga