Coach Bell seeking ‘extra edge’ over N. Korea, China, in Olympic women’s football qualifiers

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With South Korea looking to qualify for the Olympic women’s football tournament for the first time, head coach Colin Bell said Monday he wants to find “that extra edge” that could take his team past two longtime nemeses.

Bell’s South Korea will face China, North Korea and Thailand in Group B of the second round in the Asian qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The first match is against Thailand on Oct. 26, followed by North Korea on Oct. 29 and China on Nov. 1. All three matches will take place in Xiamen, China.

Colin Bell, head coach of the South Korean women’s national football team, speaks to reporters before a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 16, 2023, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Colin Bell, head coach of the South Korean women’s national football team, speaks to reporters before a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 16, 2023, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

China and North Korea have both given South Korea fits for years. South Korea have managed just five wins in 41 meetings against China, with seven draws and 29 losses. South Korea have lost 16 out of 20 meetings against North Korea, registering just one win and three draws. That lone victory came in 2005.

At the onset of his training camp, Bell said his team will have to be on top of their game, mentally and physically, to beat the two regional forces.

“We’ve identified enough areas of their game for weaknesses from North Korea and from China that we can definitely capitalize on, and that’s what our target will be,” Bell said at the National Football Center in Paju, northwest of Seoul. “We’ve got to find an edge that makes the difference and that’s going to be the main factor of the next couple of weeks. We have to be disciplined as usual on the pitch but we have to find that extra edge that gives us an advantage over these two nations.”

The most recent loss to North Korea came in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games in China on Sept. 30. South Korea fell 4-1 in a match that Bell later argued had subpar officiating.

Colin Bell (R), head coach of the South Korean women’s national football team, high-fives a player before a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 16, 2023, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Colin Bell (R), head coach of the South Korean women’s national football team, high-fives a player before a training session at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 16, 2023, in this photo provided by the Korea Football Association. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

The defeat was still fresh on Bell’s mind but the coach insisted his players “have to get past all that and concentrate just on what we want to do.”

“Obviously, North Korea is a very strong team,” Bell said. “But we identified enough areas that we could exploit. We have to be physically and mentally very strong. We’ve got to get over this mental blockage that we always lost against North Korea.”

There are three groups of four in the second round, and the three group winners, plus the best runner-up team, will move on to the third round.

The two winners of the two-legged third round, scheduled for February 2024, will punch their tickets to Paris.

In Group B, China are the top-ranked team at No. 15, followed by South Korea at No. 20 and Thailand at No. 46. North Korea are not ranked due to their lack of international action over the past several years, but they won the silver medal, behind Japan, at the Asian Games earlier this month.

Women’s football joined the Olympics in 1996 and South Korea have never played at the quadrennial tournament.

Source: Yonhap News Agency