Women’s soccer is in a slump. We need to find positive signs through a match between Korea and Japan.
The women’s national soccer team, led by head coach Shin Sang-woo, will play a friendly match against Japan at the Tokyo National Stadium on the 26th.
Korean women’s soccer is more depressed than ever. It failed to advance to the World Cup and Olympics in succession, and the national team’s head coach position was vacant for nearly four months after former coach Colin Bell left in June. Amid the KFA’s sluggish performance, the women’s soccer team has not even played an A-match since June 5. The current situation is taken seriously by the women’s soccer community.
The match against Japan is the first A match since Shin took office. Although it is a friendly match, it is expected to be a meaningful schedule in that it gives a glimpse of the direction of the women’s national team pursued by Shin.
Shin excluded veteran goalie Jungmi Kim and key midfielder Cho So-hyun from the upcoming call-up. Jungmi Kim has played in 152 A-match games, while Cho played in 156 games. “It’s not that I didn’t vote for Cho because I had negative feelings for Cho and Jungmi Kim. I thought there was a substitute. I’m not saying I won’t vote for them again. If they fit the plan, there is a possibility that they can be re-elected. It is not easy to change the team’s final goal to a new generation. “In that sense, I observed the WK League. There are young and talented players. I will motivate other players so that I can recruit better players,” Shin said.
While coach Shin is driving for a generational change, even Ji So-yeon will not be able to play in the A-match due to injury. Young players such as Kang Chae-rim, Lee Eun-young and Choo Hyo-joo and existing core resources such as Lee Min-ah, Lee Young-joo and Jang Seul-gi should play against Japan.
The women’s soccer team is inferior to the Japanese team by posting four wins, 11 draws and 18 losses. Since its victory at the East Asian Cup in 2015, the team has trailed by three draws and four losses in seven matches.
For the past three years, Shin worked for the men’s team, Gimcheon Sangmu. As the team is far from women’s soccer, there are many concerns over the situation. “There are also women’s soccer teams in the sports unit even though I couldn’t go there. I played a lot of in-person games when I played in Mungyeong. I watched a lot of games on YouTube,” Shin said, but his concern hardly disappears. 메이저놀이터
In order for Shin to dispel concerns, he should display different performances through the match against Japan. Only when he recovers his disappeared energy and vitality to make him look forward to the next step, will the voyage of the Shin Sang-woo be resilient.