As a player stumbled during a run, there was a burst of laughter... North Korea's Naegokhwaeng, in their final training session in Korea, shared a warm and friendly atmosphere [Suwon Field]

*This content was translated by AI.

Naegokhwaeng Women's Soccer Team, one day before the 2025-2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Champions League (AWCL) final, conducted their final training session in a bright and cheerful atmosphere.

Coached by Lee Yu-il, the Naegokhwaeng soccer team held official training at the auxiliary field of Suwon World Cup Stadium on the 22nd in preparation for the AWCL final against Tokyo Verdy Beleza (Japan). The Naegokhwaeng soccer team players, who will return to North Korea after the final match of the tournament held at Suwon Sports Complex at 2 p.m. on the 23rd, conducted their final training session in Korea.

Arriving at the training ground slightly later than scheduled under police escort, the players conducted training with their routes strictly separated from the media. The atmosphere was quiet while they changed into soccer cleats to prepare for training, and with security personnel deployed throughout the area, a somewhat tense atmosphere was also formed. With the final match just one day away, the players' determination was also different from before.

However, once inside the training ground, laughter began to erupt from various parts of the Naegokhwaeng players' group. Although training in front of the media might still be unfamiliar, the players conducted their training with consistently bright expressions. In particular, when one player stumbled during a light group run, the players all burst into laughter, making the atmosphere even lighter.

After warming up, the Naegokhwaeng squad, which was raising their condition through training utilizing the ball such as dribbling and passing, opened only the first 15 minutes of training to the public before switching to closed training. It was reported that under the command of Coach Lee Yu-il, Naegokhwaeng conducted closed training for about an hour to review final tactics, among other things.

In the official press conference held prior to today's training, Coach Lee Yu-il said, "Since we have reached the final, we must do our best," adding that winning is the best goal for both teams. He stated, "Through the final match, our team will have a good opportunity to develop into a stronger and better team. It is a goal as important as winning."

However, when asked by domestic reporters whether the final match would be as rough as the Korea-Japan match, Coach Lee asked the interpreter, "What is a Korea-Japan match?" and also showed a sensitive reaction, saying, "I am curious about what the meaning of a rough match is."

He added, "In soccer, there is always a referee. If it is a foul, it is a foul; if it is a caution, it is a caution. I do not understand the meaning of a rough match. Before answering, I think the expression itself is not correct. We will do our best within the scope allowed by the match regulations, as we did in the semi-finals."

The AWCL final between Naegokhwaeng Soccer Team and Tokyo Verdy will be played as a single match today. The winning prize is 1 million dollars (approximately 1.52 billion won), and the runner-up prize is 500,000 dollars (approximately 760 million won). The Naegokhwaeng Soccer Team is scheduled to return to North Korea via Beijing after finishing the final match today. Previously, the Ministry of Unification approved the Naegokhwaeng squad's visit to the South until the day after the final, the 24th.

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*This content was translated by AI.