*This content was translated by AI.
- 6 p.m. on the 15th in Thailand, the semifinals of the Asian Cup
There is no denying that the power difference is clear. But you shouldn't repeat the humiliating game. It is a mission given to the South Korean U-20 women's soccer team, which will play the inter-Korean match again in a week.
South Korea's U-20 women's soccer team, led by head coach Park Yoon-jung, will play North Korea in the semifinals of the 2026 Asian Football Confederation U-20 Women's Asian Cup at Patum Thani Stadium in Thailand at 6 p.m. on the 15th (Korea time). It is another inter-Korean match that took place a week after the Group B showdown on the 8th.
The game a week ago was a humiliating defeat. At the time, South Korea was defeated by North Korea 0-5, allowing as many as 32 shots to the opponent without recording a single shot in 90 minutes. With only 32.3% of the ball possession, he played a helpless game all the time.
Even considering that North Korean women's soccer is world-class, especially the defending champion of the tournament, it is not easy to find a precedent for the national team to lose without recording even a single shot. In the semifinals of the 2024 AFC U-20 Women's Asian Cup, which was the most recent face-off, South Korea threatened at least the opponent's goal directly amid the 0-3 defeat.
The inter-Korean war, which came back, is a stage where the pride that was crumpled a week ago needs to be restored. At the time of the last showdown, coach Park Yoon-jung was weak enough to make nine changes to the starting lineup compared to the previous match against Jordan. The intention was to focus more on the next game, the quarterfinals of the tournament, than on the match against North Korea. However, it is now a tournament that has no next time, and as it reached the semifinals of the tournament, it has also won the right to participate in the 2026 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Poland in September, so it can stage a "total war."
If they reach the final amid an unexpected event that beats North Korea, they will compete with the winner of the China-Japan match, the opponent of the semifinals, for the championship. There is no third place match in the tournament. South Korea has recently been eliminated from the semifinals of two consecutive tournaments. South Korea's all-time best performance in the tournament was in 2004 and 2013 when it was the U-19 Championship, the predecessor of the U-20 Asian Cup. In the 2013 tournament, which was the last championship, the tournament was held in a full league manner without a tournament, and at that time, he won 2-1 in the North-South match.
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*This content was translated by AI.
