The South Korean women’s national soccer team, led by head coach Colleen Bell, battled evenly for the first 45 minutes against powerhouse Germany.

South Korea, ranked 17th by the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), went into halftime 1-1 against Germany, ranked second, in their third Group H match at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023 on Wednesday at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia.

It was a big change of pace for the desperate South Koreans, who had lost to Colombia (0-2) and Morocco (0-1) and needed Germany to beat them by more than five goals and Colombia to beat Morocco to advance to the Round of 16.

Eldest sister Kim Jung-mi was in goal, while captain Kim Hye-ri, Shim Seo-yeon, and Lee Young-joo formed the back three.

The wingbacks were Jang Seul-ki and Chu Hyo-joo, and the center backs were Ji So-yeon, Cho So-hyun, and Choi Yuri. Up front were 2007-born Casey Eugene Fair and 2002-born Chun Garam, who earned their first World Cup starts.

The bold move paid off. South Korea opened the scoring in the second minute of the first half when Fair’s shot off a pass from Ji So-yeon found the hands of goalkeeper Merle Froms and hit the post.

South Korea continued to push up the line and apply strong forward pressure, and it paid off. In the sixth minute of the first half, Cho So-hyun received a penetrating pass from Lee Young-joo and calmly slotted home a one-on-one with the goalkeeper to give South Korea the lead.

It was South Korea’s first goal of the tournament and the second of her World Cup career. It was the first time in eight years that Cho had scored a goal at a World Cup since the 2015 World Cup in Canada against Spain in the group stage.

Germany came out firing on all cylinders, but Korea’s organized defense kept them at bay. Jules Brand’s threatening break in the 12th minute was denied by Kim Hye-ri with a sliding tackle, and in the 15th minute, Clara Buhl had a header that went wide of the target.

Unlike the previous two matches, South Korea took control of the game with bold challenges and offensive moves. In the 35th minute, they threatened Germany with a mid-range shot by Ji So-yeon and a breakaway by Chun Garam.

However, they only needed one shot to equalize.

In the 42nd minute, Alexandra Pope headed a high ball from the right flank into the corner of the Korean goal. 스포츠토토 It was a difficult shot for goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi to stop.

Korea and Germany were unable to score another goal and went into halftime with the score tied at 1-1.