Coach Bell: “We are eight years behind Germany in discovering female soccer players”
Ahead of the second Asian qualifier for the Olympics, criticism of the women's soccer system will be played in a three-game series against Thailand on the 26th, North Korea on the 29th, and China on the 1st of next month... Final Preliminary Goals
“In Germany, players enter a professional club at the age of 16 or 17.
In Korea, players enter the WK League at around 23 years of age.
Korea is eight years behind."
Coach Colin Bell, who leads the Korean women's national soccer team, criticized the Korean women's soccer system for being backwards ahead of the convocation training for the 2024 Paris Olympics Asian second qualifying round, which began at the Paju National Team Training Center (NFC) on the morning of the 16th.
Belho is preparing for the group stage of the Paris Olympics Asia 2nd qualifying round, which will be held in Xiamen, China, from the 26th to the 1st of next month.
In this competition, where a total of 12 teams are divided into 3 groups of 4 teams, the three teams ranked first in each group and the 2nd place in each group. 카지노사이트탑
A total of four teams, including the team with the best performance among the top two, will advance to the final preliminary round and compete for the two tickets allocated to Asia.
Belho, in Group B of the group stage, will start with the first match against Thailand on the 26th, then face North Korea on the 29th and China on November 1st.
Coach Bell met with reporters prior to full-scale training on the first day of convocation training in preparation for the second round of Olympic Asian preliminaries and first mentioned two goals the national team should achieve, saying, "We are building a new team."
The first goal is to become the first Korean women’s soccer team to advance to the Olympic finals.
Since women's soccer first began as an official sport at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Korea has never advanced to the Olympic finals.
If Belho passes the second qualifying round and the final qualifying round, it will be like writing a new history in Korean soccer.
The second goal is to achieve victory against women's soccer powerhouses North Korea and China.
Belho lost 1-4 to North Korea in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games last month, putting an end to his medal challenge.
Coach Bell, who previously strongly criticized the Asian Games' tournament format as 'unfair', also said on this day, "It was an incomprehensible operating method.
It should never happen again."
He raised his voice, saying, “It wasn’t fair that my opponent had three days off before playing.”
At the same time, Coach Bell made bitter remarks about Korean women’s soccer.
Coach Bell defended his leadership, saying, "At the Asian Games, the opposing team praised our team's style.
It may be my fault if we lose due to tactical issues, but I don't think there are many cases like that."
He then added, "I have a personal need to change the overall big picture."
“I have an opinion,” he said.
He said, “We need to get rid of the draft system and drastically lower the age range of players who can play in the WK League, so that a lot of competitive players can come in.
It’s been four years since I took office as the women’s national team coach, and I can’t change it alone.
Everyone can do it.” “We need to support it,” he emphasized.
He continued by comparing, "In Germany, players enter a professional club at the age of 16 or 17.
On the other hand, in Korea, players head to the women's professional soccer WK league around the age of 23.
Korea is eight years behind."
At the same time, he strongly criticized England, saying, "Japan also recognized the problem and reorganized its overall league structure two years ago to expand the player pool, and won the Asian Games with a second-tier team.
However, I do not have a 'second-tier team'."
He called for the introduction of advanced women's soccer systems from overseas, such as Germany, Italy, and Spain.
Coach Bell also expressed his determination for the upcoming three-game series against Thailand, North Korea, and China.
Coach Bell commented, “In the last Asian Games, we played well against North Korea in the first half, but our performance in the second half was disappointing.”
He said, "The goal is to win every game in the second qualifying round of the Olympics.
North Korea and China are difficult opponents, but we have to find a way to win."
He said, "Since the two teams are strong teams, I have no choice but to emphasize the importance of mental strength."