NAMHAE, South Korea– Ji So-yun, South Korean football’s all-time leading scorer, has won numerous trophies in her illustrious club career. It has been a different story with the national team, though, and the attacking midfielder wants to change the narrative this month at a major continental tournament.
South Korea will compete at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup starting on Jan. 21 in India. They will face Vietnam, Myanmar, and two-time defending champions Japan in Group C.
Head coach Colin Bell opened training camp on Sunday in Namhae, some 500 kilometers south of Seoul, hoping to guide South Korea to their first Asian Cup title. The country’s best performance to date has been the third-place finish in 2003.
Ji has netted 59 goals in 131 international matches, but has not yet won any title with the country. The closest Ji came was the runner-up showing at the 2009 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship.
About a month from her 31st birthday, Ji said Monday that she knows her time is running out.
“I have accomplished everything at the club level, but I’ve never won a title for the national team even after all these years,” said Ji, who made her international debut in 2006. “I want to win every tournament that we play.”
Over her three club seasons in Japan, Ji won three first-division league titles, three national cup tournaments and one league cup title. Since joining Chelsea in 2014, Ji has enjoyed even more success, with five league titles, two national cup titles and two league cup titles.
Ji admitted winning the Asian Cup over the likes of Australia and Japan won’t be easy. They are the two highest-ranked teams in this year’s tournament at No. 11 and No. 13, with South Korea trailing them at No. 18.
Running into Japan in the group stage isn’t going to help South Korea’s cause but Ji said her team will be ready.
“Our ultimate goal is to win the trophy but we have to get past the group stage first,” Ji said. “We always seem to face Japan at the wrong moments, but we should no longer be afraid of them.”
In 31 meetings against Japan, South Korea have had four wins, 10 draws and 17 losses.
There are three groups of four in the tournament. The top two teams from each group, plus the two-best third-place teams, will advance to the quarterfinals.
South Korea should have little trouble getting past the other two opponents in Group C. They have beaten Vietnam in all 11 matches so far, and they have also gone perfect in six matches against Myanmar.
“We have to try to score as many goals as we can, in case we end up going to a tiebreaker to determine rankings,’ Ji said.
The top five nations at the Women’s Asian Cup will qualify for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, while two more teams will end up in the intercontinental playoffs.
Source: Yonhap News Agency