ADELAIDE (Yonhap) – The South Korean women’s soccer team has made its final preparations for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 with a ‘must-win’ clash against Morocco to keep its hopes of qualifying for the Round of 16 alive.The team, led by head coach Colin Bell, held an hour-long official training session at the SA Football Center in Adelaide, South Australia, on Monday afternoon. Bell opened the first 15 minutes to the media.The team trained the previous day at Campbelltown Sports Stadium outside Sydney, New South Wales, before traveling to Adelaide this morning to warm upWith the exception of goalkeeper Ryu Ji-soo sportstotozonecom (Seoul Metropolitan Government), who tore a ligament in her left ankle while blocking a shot from Park Eun-sun during training the day before, all 22 players took to the field to check their physical condition ahead of the Morocco match.Ryu Ji-soo, who decided to travel with the team to Adelaide, watched her teammates from the bench.Despite not having any A-match experience, Ryu was called up by coach Colin Bell as a ‘backup’. However, an untimely injury ruled her out of the rest of the match.In the absence of the ‘youngest goalkeeper’, Yoon Young-gl (BK Hecken) and Kim Jung-mi (Incheon Hyundai Steel) practiced handling aerial balls under the guidance of goalkeeping coach Jeong Jung-seok.They also practiced delivering accurate long passes to points farther downfield.The goalkeeping position is one of Bell’s biggest concerns.Kim Jung-mi, the “eldest” member of the national team born in 1984, conceded the first goal of the match against Haiti in a domestic trial on March 8 when she decided to stay back instead of moving forward in the face of a rush of opposing attackers.As a result, the starting spot for the first game of the World Cup went to Yoon Young-gul. However, he hasn’t been as reliable and is no longer guaranteed a starting spot.
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