Steven Danis
Football Tribe Indonesia
The 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup just kicked off in the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Friday night, or in the early hours of the morning in East Asia. The host nation met South Korea and collected their first three points, scoring four goals into the Taegeuk Nangja’s net.
Les Bleus looks dominant from the beginning of the match and got their first goal at the 9th minutes as Amandine Henry sent a low pass into the penalty box from the left side of the Korean defense. The ball met Eugenie Le Sommer’s right foot and she blasted the ball through Kim Minjung’s net to take France ahead.
In the 21st minute, Griedge Mbock Bathy had a chance from a bicycle kick inside the penalty box but her kick flew over the bar.
Five minutes later, the Lyon defender made yet another contribution from the attacking set piece. From the corner side, Gaetane Thiney and Amel Majri sent a pass back to the middle and Eugenie Le Sommer cut a perfect long pass into the penalty box. Wendie Renard then assisted Mbock Bathy with a header but, Mbock’s goal disallowed after referee Claudia Umpierrez was informed by the VAR that Mbock was in an offside position.
Finally, in the 35th minute, Lyon captain Wendie Renard, scored the second goal for Les Bleus as Gaetane Thiney played a perfect long pass through the penalty box from the left side of box and Renard headed the ball into South Korean’s goal without any trouble.
At the end of the first-half, Renard completed her brace to give the hosts a three-goal lead. The goal process was just like the previous one, with a header from corner kick scheme, but this time from a different angle, and assisted by Amel Majri.
The Taegeuk Nangja struggled to take control of the game as their dynamic duo in the midfield, Ji Soyun and Cho Sohyun, spent most of their time helping the defenders. Ji and Cho are the only Korean players who play their club football outside of Asia. Both of them play in London, where Ji is Chelsea’s playmaker while Cho stars for another London club, West Ham United.
Korean coach, Yoon Dukyeo, needed to try to make his team more comfortable in the second half, as they didn’t create a single chance in the first period. His first two substitutions looked good as Kang Chaerim replaced Kang Yumi and Lee Mina replaced Lee Youngju. Chaerim, the 21-year-old attacking midfielder, is the youngest member in the Korean team while Mina who played aboard for Japanese club, INAC Kobe Leonessa.
The greatest chance for Taegeuk Nangja came in the 76th minute when Mina beat the offside trap, received a long pass over the France defenders and fashioned a one-on-one chance again Sarah Bouhaddi. Unfortunately, her shot went just wide from the Les Bleus’ goal.
The hosts continued to pile on the misery for Korea after Amandine Henry blasted a beautiful long shot from outside the penalty box five minutes before the game ended. As such, the hosts begin this year’s tournament with a big victory in front of 45.261 spectators. Next, they will face Norway while South Korea will face African giants Nigeria.