Colombia takes on South Korea in a huge challenge in their FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 opener on Tuesday at Sydney Football Stadium.
COL-W vs KOR-W Match Details
Date: Tuesday, 25 July 2023
Time: 07:30 (IST) / 12:00 (ACT)
Venue: Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney
COL-W vs KOR-W Match Preview
Colombia are aiming to give the other three members of the group namely South Korea, Germany and Morocco a notable fight to be among the top two. That is an ambitious thought of this feisty side who have reached the knockouts of a Women’s World Cup only once before. That was in 2015 in Canada, the last time they experienced football at this stage. It was a remarkable outing for the South American back then collecting their first win in the competition with a 2-0 win over France. They finished third in the group before losing to eventual winners USA in the last 16. In only their third appearance, Colombia will have to be a solid outfit to repeat their performance eight years ago. For that, they have to at least avoid defeat against South Korea in the opener and try to win any of the next two games to stand a chance. Euro finalists Germany will be too big of a task so debutants Morocco could be targeted in that regard. Colombia will show their physical nature that got them to the finals in the first place after finishing as one of the top three teams in 2022 Copa America. They reached the final of the competition to be beaten by Brazil. Their style of play could be a risky at times as was known after their warm-up game against Ireland was abandoned for being ‘overly physical’ with only 20 minutes played. Within the laws of the game, that will be their strategy to survive longer in the competition.
Like their counterpart, South Korea are also aiming to reach the knockouts for the second time in their fourth Women’s World Cup appearance and their third consecutively. The TaeGuk Girls failed to do so in the previous edition, finishing bottom of their group by losing all their games. They could score only once which came as a consolation as they bow out with a 2-1 loss to Norway. Conceding eight goals after a 4-0 thrashing to France in the opener and then being beaten 2-0 by Nigeria also did not sit well. The current side is determined to overturn those disappointments and grab the second spot. Germany is likely to obtain the top place unless they can restrict them to do so making the opener against Colombia a direct battle for their desired spot. South Korea will hope for what would be their second victory in the finals in the first group stage game. One more win will be enough to secure a last-16 berth after 2015. Colin Bell’s team has enjoyed scoring goals of late as they managed five twice against Zambia in the warm-up friendlies and also played a thrilling final in the Asian Cup last year against China which ended 3-2. The last-minute winner in stoppage time meant they settled for a runners-up spot although the qualification to the 2023 Women’s World Cup was sealed beforehand by reaching the semifinals.
Recent Form
COL-W: DWLLD
KOR-W: WWWLL
COL-W vs KOR-W Predicted Lineups
COL-W: Catalina Perez; Mónica Ramos, Daniela Arias, Manuela Vanegas, Ana María Guzmán; Daniela Montoya, Lorena Bedoya; Elexa Bahr, Catalina Usme, Linda Caicedo; Mayra Ramirez
KOR-W: Jung-mi; Hye-ri, Seon-joo, Seo-yeon; Hyo-joo, So-yun, So-hyun, Sel-gi; Geum-min, Hwa-yeon; Eun Seon
COL-W vs KOR-W Dream11 Team Prediction
GK: Jeong (8)
DEF: Arias (9), Sel-Gi (8.5), Vanegas (8.5)
MID: Usme (9), So-Yun (9), Geum-Min (8.5), Montoya (8.5)
FW: Ramirez (8), Eun Seon (8.5), Caicedo (8.5)
Vice-captain: Catalina Usme
Captain: Ji so-Yun
