The women’s national team led by Coach Colin Bell (ranked 20th) beat the Philippines (39th) 2-1 in the second friendly match at Icheon Sports Complex on Sunday. After Choo Hyo-joo (Incheon Hyundai Steel) scored the first goal 27 seconds after the start of the match, Choi Yu-ri (Birmingham City) added a goal in the 33rd minute of the first half, beating the Philippines, where Angela Beard recovered a goal in the 29th minute of the second half.
Chu Hyo-joo’s first goal in 27 seconds on the day became the shortest in the history of women’s A matches. The previous record was 38 seconds set by Sung Hyun-ah in the 2003 Asian Cup group match against Hong Kong.
South Korea, which beat the Philippines 3-0 in the first leg on the 5th thanks to back-to-back goals from Choi Yu-ri, Ji So-yeon, and Jang Seul-ki, won both consecutive games. This gave South Korea an overwhelming advantage against the Philippines with all six wins.
The women’s team will gather again in June ahead of two consecutive away matches against the U.S. The team failed to advance to the 2024 Paris Olympics finals, so there are no major competitions this year, but the team is reorganizing itself to look forward to the 2026 Asian Cup and the 2027 World Cup. In February, it played friendly matches with the Czech Republic (2-1) and Portugal (1-5), and continued a gradual change of generation through this year’s first domestic friendly match with the Philippines.
Bell played as a three-back as in the first game, but had a different lineup. Compared to the first game, six players were in the lineup.
Choi Yu-ri and Lee Geum-min (Brighton & Hove Albion) were at the forefront of the team. Ji So-yeon (Seattle Rangers) played the offensive midfielder right underneath them. The midfield consists of Choo Hyo-joo, Jang Seul-ki (Gyeongju KHNP), Jeon Eun-ha, and Kang Chae-rim (Suwon FC). The three backs are Lee Young-joo (Madrid CFF), Go Yu-na (Hwacheon KSPO), and Kim Hye-ri (Incheon Hyundai Steel). Choi Ye-seul (Gyeongju KHNP) replaced veteran Jungmi Kim (Incheon Hyundai Steel) as the goalkeeper.
As soon as kick-off, South Korea created the first goal with its first attack before the Philippine defense even made maintenance. Kang Chae-rim spilled a ground ball cross from Choi Yu-ri’s right side through her legs, and Chu Hyo-joo, who was rushing from the other side, took it with her right foot.
South Korea, which led by one goal, literally launched a wave of attacks. Choi Yu-ri, the main character of the first goal, created another good opportunity in the eighth minute of the first half, but a right-footed shot from the right side of the goal area slightly moved to the left side of the net. Later, in the middle of the first half, Kang Chae-rim’s header, Jang Seul-ki’s turning shot, and Lee Geum-min’s mid-range shot followed, but they either turned away from the net or were caught by the goalkeeper.
The Philippines, which allowed an unexpected first goal, cooled the hearts of the Korean team with a set piece, but Choi Ye-seul’s save made it through the crisis. In the 25th minute of the first half, the Philippines’ free kick that was attempted near the halfway line headed for the Korean goal, which deflected off the head of the Korean player and bound erratically. However, Choi lost balance and hit it with his left hand. Afterwards, Hailey Long of the Philippines shot the ball right in front of the net again, but Choi blocked the first shot and displayed a save by extending her left foot even when she was falling.
Choi Ye-seul, who made his A-match debut in the group stage against Hong Kong at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, is the second game and his first start. In the first game, Bell, who had a built-in Jungmi Kim as the goalkeeper, gave Choi Ye-seul a chance in this game and made a generational change, and Choi Ye-seul showed an impressive defense.
After overcoming the crisis, Korea took a step further by scoring an additional goal in the 33rd minute of the first half. Choi gave an assist to the first goal, and this time she started as a troubleshooter. Choi rushed a cross that Kang Chae-rim put on from the right side to the near post, and connected it with a non-stop shot with her right foot to break the net. Having scored goals in two consecutive A matches, Choi showed off her signature “heart arrow” ceremony in the last match.
South Korea, which finished the first half 2-0, attempted a threatening shot early in the second half, but rarely scored an additional goal. In the fifth minute of the second half, Choi Yu-ri connected Lee Geum-min’s early cross with a right footed shot, but it hit the crossbar. In the corner kick situation around 18 minutes in the second half, he fired three or four times in front of the opponent’s goal, but it was blocked by Philippine goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel.
Rather, Korea was chased after by one goal in the 29th minute, when it gave up a left-footed free-kick goal to Angela Beard of the Philippines. Then, Bell added strikers Moon Mira and Casey Eugene Fair in succession, further tightening the reins of the attack. However, Korea’s remaining attempts to stage attacks did not come to fruition.
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Korea 2-1 Philippines
Scores: Chu Hyo-joo (1) Choi Yu-ri (33, South Korea). Angela Beard (29, Philippines)
Korean players: Choi Ye-seul (GK), Lee Young-joo, Ko Yu-na, Kim Hye-ri, Chu Hyo-joo, Jang Seul-ki, Jeon Eun-ha (Mun Mira, Hu 28), Kang Chae-rim (Hu 33 Casey Eugene Fair), Choi Yuri, Ji So-yeon, Lee Geum-min (Hu 41 Cho So-hyun) 먹튀검증