Suwon FC Women won′t back down vs. N. Korean foe in historic football match: captain

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Suwon FC Women won't back down vs. N. Korean foe in historic football match: captain

By Yoo Jee-ho

SUWON, South Korea, May 19 (Yonhap) -- Suwon FC Women captain Ji So-yun said Tuesday she and her teammates won't back down on their home soil against their North Korean opponent in what should be a physical, high-intensity battle at the top Asian women's football tournament.

Suwon FC Women will go up against Naegohyang Women's FC of North Korea in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Suwon Stadium in Suwon, some 30 kilometers south of Seoul. It will be the first match between women's football clubs of the Koreas on South Korean soil, and Naegohyang's trip across the border has generated huge interest from outside the football community as well.

At her prematch press conference Tuesday, Ji said she was trying to keep her focus on football, not the media circus surrounding it, because there is plenty to worry about when it comes to handling Naegohyang.

Naegohyang defeated Suwon 3-0 in their group stage meeting in November last year, when Yangon served as the centralized venue. Ji, who had been with Birmingham City Women FC on a loan deal at the time and rejoined Suwon in January, vowed things will be different this time.

"I looked at Naegohyang's squad list, and they are essentially the North Korean national team," Ji said. "But we also have a different squad than last year. I am grateful for the opportunity to play the semifinal match here at home, and we will do our best to reward our fans' support and interest with a victory."

Though Ji has never faced Naegohyang, she has played nine matches against the North Korean national team in the past. An all-time South Korean leader with 175 caps and 75 goals, Ji noted that North Korean players are always physical when playing South Korea and they don't shy away from trash talking, either.

"We're not going to back down. If they trash talk, then we will trash talk, too," Ji said. "And if they kick us, then we will kick right back in response."

Seated next to Ji at the presser, Suwon head coach Park Kil-young grinned at Ji's reference to North Korean players' trash-talking antics. Park said his players seemed "too intimidated" against Naegohyang in the face of hard tackles and verbal attacks in their November meeting -- "I tore into my players in the locker room at half time," Park said -- and he declared it won't be the case in front of their home crowd this time.

"We're a much stronger team now," Park said, citing his team's convincing, 4-0 win over the defending AFC champions Wuhan Jiangda Women's FC in the quarterfinals. "If we all trust each other, then I think we're good enough to win. We realize Naegohyang are a really good team, but we will just think about playing our brand of football and mounting a strong response, since we will be playing at our own stadium."

Park said it has been difficult not to be distracted by issues outside football in the days leading up to the match. The Korea Football Association said some 7,000 tickets for the general public sold out within 12 hours of going on sale last week, while the unification ministry offered to dip into the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to purchase tickets and cheering props for some 3,000 civic group members. The ministry faced some criticism for using government funds for people who will be mostly cheering for the North Korean club and who wouldn't have attended the match if not for Naegohyang's presence.

"Much of the media interest and attention has been on Naegohyang, but I've told our players not to pay too much attention to those issues and just focus on football," Park said. "We believe that cheering squads will be behind us as well, and we will just try to do our best on the pitch."

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