"It's time to change the generation of women's soccer," said Shin Sang-woo, head coach of "One Korea-Japan match against Korea and Japan."

*This content was translated by AI.

"It was a game that made me feel a lot as a coach," said Shin Sang-woo, head coach of the women's national soccer team, who was eliminated by Japan in the semifinals of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup.

According to the Korea Football Association on the 19th, coach Shin Sang-woo said at a press conference after losing to Japan in the semifinals of the tournament at Stadium Australia in Sydney, Australia, the day before, "Congratulations to Japan for reaching the final. I want to say thank you to the players who did their best until the end. I think Japan is a strong team," he said.

South Korea, ranked 21st in the FIFA rankings, sought a major upset against Japan, ranked eighth in the FIFA rankings and the strongest in Asia, but lost 1-4 after losing two goals each in the first and second half. South Korea's ball possession rate was only 36.3% on the day, and the number of shots was more than three times higher at 6-21.

Coach Shin Sang-woo said, "If it finished with five-backs in the first half without losing a point, there were many players who would act as game changers in the second half, so I tried to switch to four-backs and watch the game," adding, "We played a stable game in the first half because we needed a win to go to the final, and tried to make a challenging choice in the second half. However, I think the first half of the game caused difficulties," he said.

Regarding the background of using the replacement card twice in the first half alone, including Son Hwa-yeon instead of Jeon Yoo-kyung in the 41st minute and Ji So-yeon instead of Moon Eun-joo in the extra time, he explained, "We made the first replacement to change the atmosphere in the losing situation, but we unexpectedly got hurt, so we made the second replacement in the first half."

Coach Shin said, "I think the defense side will use a lot of power. The reason our players failed to cope with the opponent's attack is because they did not have a compact formation," he said, adding, "We will continue to look for young players. It's time for a generational change, so I think we need to find a new young player. I think today's game will be an opportunity to feel and develop a lot," he added.

Coach Shin Sang-woo said to the fans who visited the stadium and cheered for him throughout the tournament, "It's a huge boost. I was happy to be able to play in front of so many fans while being a leader. The players were happy, too. Thank you," he said, adding, "I'm sorry to lose the game, but if you support me a lot in the future, I'll become a more advanced women's national team."

South Korea, which was eliminated from the semifinals, will return home without a third-place match. Despite failing to advance to the finals, the women's team managed to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women's World Cup, which is given to the top six teams of the tournament. The final match of this tournament will be held at Stadium Australia at 6 p.m. on the 21st against host Australia and Japan.

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*This content was translated by AI.