South Korea head coach Colin Bell watches his team in action against Japan during the teams' Group C match at the Asian Football Confederation Women's Asian Cup at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune, India. (Photo from KFA) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] SEOUL: For South Korea women's football head coach Colin Bell, his team 1-1 draw against Japan at the top Asian women's competition on Thursday almost felt like a win. After giving up a goal only about 30 seconds in, South Korea got their equalizer in the 85th minute for a hard-fought point to close out Group C at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Asian Cup in India.
Japan still won the group over South Korea on goal difference, as both countries are moving on to the quarterfinals as the top two seeds. More importantly, Bell said holding the two-time defending champs was just the kind of boost his players needed entering the quarterfinals against the top seed from Group B. Though the matchup wasn't set after the Korean match, Australia was expected to win the group and play South Korea on Sunday.
"At the end of the day, the 1-1 draw was a fair result and it gives us the confidence to take very tough quarterfinals to match against Australia," Bell said at his post-match press conference. "After the first half, we were not on our best form. We needed a good second half and to get the result to keep our confidence level as high as possible."