SEOUL– South Korea have qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, thanks to a shocking victory over Australia at the top Asian tournament Sunday in India.
Ji So-yun’s thunderous 87th-minute strike gave South Korea a 1-0 win in the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, south of Delhi. Australia, at No. 11, were the highest-ranked team in the tournament, seven spots above South Korea.
In Thursday’s semifinals, back in Pune, South Korea will meet the winner of the Chinese Taipei-Philippines quarterfinals match, scheduled for later Sunday.
The AFC tournament is doubling as the final Asian qualifying event for the 2023 World Cup, to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. The top five countries here will advance to the showpiece event and by reaching the semifinals in India, South Korea will be making their third consecutive World Cup appearance and their fourth overall.
South Korea are now two wins away from lifting the Women’s Asian Cup trophy for the first time. Their best performance to date is the third-place finish in 2003.
South Korea improved to three wins, two draws and 13 losses against Australia, which had played in each of the past three finals at the Women’s Asian Cup.
The teams were scoreless at halftime, though it wasn’t for lack of chances.
South Korea dodged a couple of bullets. In the 19th, Mary Fowler’s hard shot from just outside the box forced a tough save from goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi. On the ensuing corner, Sam Kerr’s header struck the right post.
Lee Geum-min was fouled hard by Caitlin Foord on the right side of the box in the 34th minute, with their feet just inside the line when the contact occurred. After a lengthy video review, South Korea were awarded the penalty.
Veteran midfielder Cho So-hyun stepped up but airmailed the shot well over the net as the match remained scoreless.
Cho missed another scoring opportunity in the 55th minute as her header was turned aside by goalkeeper Lydia Williams.
Australia kept knocking on the door, with striker Sam Kerr missing the target in the 65th and again in the 76th.
And Ji, Kerr’s Chelsea FC Women teammate, broke the ice in the 87th minute. She secured the ball on the left side and then cut toward the middle before firing one with her right foot. The shot sailed into the top right corner, past the outstretched arms of Williams for Ji’s 63rd international goal and her team-leading fourth of the tournament.
Ji went down with an apparent lower body injury immediately after the goal. Her status for the next match wasn’t immediately known.
Source: Yonhap News Agency