(Xinhua) – The South Korean women’s soccer team, seeking a fourth consecutive Asian Games medal, fell to Southeast Asian underdogs Myanmar in their first game of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.

The women’s team, led by head coach Colleen Bell, defeated Myanmar 3-0 in the first match of Group E of the women’s football competition at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Wenzhou Sports Center Stadium in Wenzhou, China, on Wednesday, thanks to a goal from Lee Eun-young in the 24th minute, a goal from Ji So-yeon in the 14th minute and a wedge from Jeon Eun-ha in the 23rd minute.

South Korea won its first Asian Games medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games with a bronze, followed by back-to-back bronze medals at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.

After defeating China in the third- and fourth-place matches in Guangzhou and Incheon to reach the podium, the Koreans beat Chinese Taipei in Jakarta-Palembang for their third consecutive podium finish.

They will be looking to reach their first ever final at the Hangzhou Asian Games.

With Australia, the reigning Asian Football Confederation (AFC) champions, not competing at the Asian Games, they are considered a strong contender for the title alongside Japan, China, and North Korea.

The first tape went well.

However, it was true that the Myanmar match was somewhat reminiscent of the frustrating performance at the Women’s World Cup in Australia-New Zealand two months ago, so improvements are needed for future tournaments, including the quarterfinals.

Bell kept Kim Jung-mi in goal for the match, while Shim Seo-yeon, Jang Seul-ki, and Kim Hye-ri (defenders), Lee Min-ah and Ji So-yeon (midfielders), and Choo Hyo-joo, Son Hwa-yeon, Choi Yuri, Chun Garam, and Lee Eun-young (forwards) started the game.

By deploying a large number of attacking players up front, Belho hoped to score a large number of goals to control their physical condition and check their attacking power, but it did not work out as intended, confirming the yellow light on the medal front.

South Korea is ranked 20th and Myanmar 51st in the women’s FIFA rankings released by Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) on March 25. In terms of power, it wasn’t out of the question for South Korea to score in the rain, but Belho’s lack of finishing against a dense defense was again exposed.

South Korea pushed for an early goal but failed to create much of a chance before Lee Eun-young broke the 0-0 deadlock in the 24th minute.

After one shot rebounded off an opponent’s body, Ji So-yeon collected it from the front of the arc and played it into the penalty area, where Lee Eun-young calmly trapped it in the middle of the penalty area before unleashing a diagonal right-footed volley into the bottom left corner of the Myanmar goal.

Lee Eun-young, who made her A-match debut at the Arnold-Clarke Cup in England in February, scored her debut goal in her third cap.

After the first goal, however, South Korea again displayed their sweet potato-like goalkeeping, failing to add to their lead in the first half.

In the 31st minute, Choi Yoo-ra fired a right-footed shot from the right side of the penalty area that bounced off the body of an opponent and was cleared off the line.

Three minutes later, in the 34th minute, Lee Eun-young’s cross from the right flank found Lee Min-ah one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper, but her header in front of the goal went wide of the left post. The score remained 1-0 at halftime without any clear-cut scoring chances. 카지노사이트777

In the second half, South Korea regrouped, and ace Ji So-yeon, who had assisted Lee Eun-young’s goal, scored the winner.

Ji made it 2-0 in the 14th minute of the second half with a right-footed curling shot from the left side of the Ji arc that found the bottom left corner of the Myanmar goal.

Ji So-yeon celebrated her victory by breaking the record for most A-Match appearances by a South Korean men’s or women’s soccer player with 149 matches.

At 2-0, Bell dropped Lee Min-ah and Chun Garam and brought in Jeon Eun-ha and Moon Mi-ra for a test against the Philippines, a team that was expected to fight for first place in Group E with South Korea.

Jeon Eun-ha lived up to Bell’s expectations.

In the 23rd minute of the second half, a forward pass from behind was touched in front of Jang Seul-ki’s goal by the opposing goalkeeper, but the onrushing Jeon Eun-ha pounced and slotted home to make it 3-0.

It was the first goal in 10 years and 15 games for Jeon, who made her A-match debut in a friendly against Canada in 2013.

South Korea pushed for one more goal in the second half, bringing on Jung Seol-bin and Moon Eun-joo in place of Lee Eun-young and Son Hwa-yeon in the 38th minute, but Myanmar’s resistance proved too much.

Myanmar pushed up the field and fought hard to get one goal against Korea, including creating a decisive chance midway through the second half. 바카라사이트

The Belo Horizonte will face the Philippines in their second Group E match at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 25 at the same stadium.

The Philippines have been ranked among the top five or six teams in Asia, with the women’s national team earning their first World Cup victory by beating New Zealand at the Women’s World Cup in July, so Korea will need to be prepared.

The Philippines defeated Hong Kong 3-1 in the first round on March 23.