With Son Heung-min (Tottenham) playing in the English Premier League (EPL), it was No. 7 Son who stole the show in Hangzhou, China.
The South Korean women’s national team, led by head coach Colleen Bell, cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Philippines in their second Group E match of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games 카지노사이트 on Friday at the Wenzhou Sports Center Stadium in Zhejiang Province, China.
After a convincing win over Myanmar in the first leg, the Koreans have now won two straight matches to clinch first place in the group, regardless of the outcome of their match against Hong Kong (2 losses) on Aug. 28.
The best player of the match was forward Son Hwa-yeon (Hyundai Steel), who wore the No. 7 shirt. Starting up front, she scored a hat trick against the Philippines to lead her team to an upset victory.
South Korea, who were outclassed by the Philippines in terms of objective power, fell behind early as Isabel Bolden was unceremoniously brought down in the eighth minute.
However, Chun Garam (Hwacheon KSPO) quickly equalized in the 12th minute from a corner kick, and Son Hwa-yeon (Suwon FC) turned the game around in the 44th minute with a header off a cross from Chu Hyo-joo (Suwon FC).
A penalty kick goal by ace Ji So-yeon (Suwon FC) in the seventh minute of the second half gave Korea the lead, and Son Hwa-yeon extended the lead in the 10th minute of the second half when she headed home a cross from Choi Yoo-ri (Birmingham City).
Showing off her knack for finding the back of the net, Son Hwa-yeon added another goal 25 minutes into the second half with a right-footed shot off a pass from Jeon Eun-ha to complete her hat trick in the match.
After breezing through the group stage, the national team still has a final game to play, but the focus is now on their quarterfinal opponents.
In the 16-nation women’s competition, the top five teams from each group and the top three finishers from each group except Group C will advance to the quarterfinals.
With quarterfinal opponents still to be determined, South Korea will face either the first-place team from Group C or the second-place team from Group D. As of now, North Korea is the favorite to finish first in Group C and Vietnam is the favorite to finish second in Group D. Depending on the circumstances, the quarterfinals could be a North-South matchup in women’s soccer.
The last time the two Koreas met was at the EAFF E-1 Championship (East Asian Cup) in Japan in December 2017. South Korea lost 0-1 on that occasion. They also failed to secure a win in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifier in Pyongyang in April that year, drawing 1-1.