With less than a week to wait until the start of the 2023 Women’s World Cup, the time for talking is almost over and the time for action is upon us.
The top teams in the world are making their final touches in readiness, and there are plenty of nations with high hopes of making it deep into the competition.
Managed by former Huddersfield Town assistant Colin Bell, the South Korea ladies are ranked 17th in the world by FIFA, and they could be one of the dark horses to watch. The Women’s World Cup 2023 betting odds give a price of 101.00 on a tournament win for Bell’s girls to win outright, and that’s a long shot.
But how far can Korea go?
They are in a tough group with the highly fancied Germany team, as well as Colombia and Morocco and are at SBOTOP odds of 21.00 to top Group H. The Germans, spearheaded by the brilliant Alexandra Popp are hot favourites, so Korea’s opener against Colombia is a huge match.
The winner of that one should make the knockout phase. And at 2.09, the Colombians are slight favourites to win the opening fixture with South Korea priced at 2.64, and the draw at 3.01.
It’s the first time these two nations have met and, while Colombia are ranked 25th in the world, they have a talented team and will be a dangerous opponent.
If South Korea make it through the group it will be the second time they have reached the knockout phase in four attempts after making it to the Round of 16 in Canada in 2015, but they went out at the group stage in France in 2019.
South Korea come into the competition in confident mood and on the back of three wins, including a 2-1 warm-up victory over Haiti last week as Ji So-Yun scored from the penalty spot to level an early Haiti goal and Jan Sel Gi added a late winner.
Meanwhile, Colombia have won one, lost one, and drawn one of their last three games.
Bell’s team can pose a threat to any opponent with its high tempo and dynamic game, as the Koreans always look to turn defence into attack quickly. And with a blend of youth and experience in the side, they have plenty of ambitious stars.
Bell has been in charge for four years, and his attention on fitness and conditioning stands his team in good stead for a gruelling group in Australia.
“Everyone on the team is looking forward to the World Cup,” he said. “It’s going to be a tough challenge, but we will rely on our fighting spirit to accomplish our goal.”
Cho and Park have been there and done that
While South Korea have some exciting young players in their squad and the Women’s World Cup 2023 highlights will be coming fast and furious from the likes of 20-year-old midfielder Chun Ga-Ram and 25-year-old striker Kang Chae-Rim, there will be two veterans on show who have bags of experience and 71 years between them.
Seoul striker Park Eun-Sun, at the grand old age of 36, will be playing in her third Women’s World Cup. She made her debut as a 16-year-old at the 2003 showcase and appeared again in Canada in 2015. Her call up is a bit of surprise, but with a one goal in two games goal ratio she will make a dangerous impact sub.
“I will be ready to leave everything on the pitch if I get to play,” she says.
Just one year younger, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Cho So-Hyun is making her third appearance at a finals following the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. And with 145 international caps to her name, she has the joint-most appearances for her country, alongside fellow midfielder Ji So-Yun – the team’s penalty taker.
Cho has happy memories of the Canada World Cup in 2015 when she scored a crucial goal against Spain to take South Korea through to the knockout phases for the first time in their history, and she came close to scoring in the win over Haiti last week.
A tireless player, Cho will set the tempo of the game and join the attack as often as she can with direct runs into the penalty area. So don’t be surprised to see Cho add to her 25 international goals.
She will have a chance in a behind-closed-doors match against the Netherlands on Sunday in Korea’s last warm-up before they meet Colombia, the game the whole squad is focusing on. Win that opener and South Korea can start to dream big.
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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