The South Korean women’s soccer team defeated Myanmar by three goals in their first match of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games to take the lead in their group.

The women’s football team, led by Colleen Bell (England), defeated Myanmar 3-0 in their first Group E match of the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Wenzhou Sports Center Stadium in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on Wednesday.

South Korean women’s soccer, whose previous best Asian Games results include bronze medals in Guangzhou 2010, Incheon 2014 and Jakarta-Palembang 2018, began their quest for their first ever gold medal with a convincing win.

South Korea leads Group E with three points and a +3 goal differential, followed by the Philippines (3 points, +2 goal differential), who defeated Hong Kong 3-1 earlier in the day.

South Korea will continue the group stage against the Philippines on Sept. 25 and Hong Kong on Sept. 28.

Son Hwa-yeon (Hyundai Steel) spearheaded the attack, with Chun Garam (Hwacheon KSPO), Lee Min-ah (Hyundai Steel), and Choi Yuri (Birmingham City) supporting her.

With veteran Cho So-hyun (Birmingham City) out for the tournament, Jang Seul-ki (Hyundai Steel), who usually plays as a fullback, was deployed in the midfield alongside Ji So-yeon (Suwon FC).

Ji-so-yeon, who was tied with Cho So-hyun for the most A-match appearances by a South Korean player in history, became the sole leader with her 149th appearance.

The backline consisted of Choo Hyo-joo, Shim Seo-yeon (Suwon FC), Kim Hye-ri (Hyundai Steel) and Lee Eun-young (Korea University). In goal was Kim Jung-mi (Hyundai Steel), the eldest sister born in 1984.

Veteran defender Lim Sun-ju (Hyundai Steel) was removed from the roster due to a calf muscle injury. Lim is expected to be available from the second leg, according to the national team.

South Korea, which controlled the flow of the game from the outset with active attacking play from both fullbacks and ball distribution from Ji So-yeon, opened the scoring in the 24th minute with a goal from Lee Eun-young, the youngest player born in 2002.

Ji-So-Yeon played a pass from the penalty area to Eun-Young, who finished with a strong right-footed shot from the right side of the penalty area for the Korean women’s national team’s first goal of the tournament.

It was the third goal in as many games for Lee, who made her A-match debut against Belgium in the Arnold Clarke Cup friendly in February.

South Korea continued to press Myanmar in the second half, but were unable to find the finishing touch in a tight defense, and the one-goal lead was not enough.

After looking somewhat indecisive in the second half, South Korea revitalized the game in the 14th minute with a free kick from “living legend” Ji So-yeon.

From a free kick opportunity won by Jang Seul-ki on the left side of the penalty arc, Ji struck the ball with her right foot and found the left corner of the goal.

With the goal, Ji extended her South Korean record for most goals in an A-match to 68.

After Myanmar’s counterattack in the 18th minute of the second half, when Lee Min-ah and Cheon Gar-ram were removed and Moon Mi-ra and Jeon Eun-ha (Suwon FC) were introduced, Korea was relieved to see another goal from Jeon Eun-ha in the 23rd minute.

The national team then replaced Lee Eun-young and Son Hwa-yeon with Jung Seol-bin (Hyundai Steel) and Moon Eun-joo (Hwacheon KSPO) to finish the game. The 2000-born forward made her senior national team debut. 파워볼게임