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| AFC Women’s Asian Cup |
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| Kim commends Korean spirit |
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| Korean coach Kim Kwang-min hailed his side's spirit in their 3-0 semi-final win over Australia. |
HO CHI MINH CITY - DPR Korea coach Kim Kwang-min hailed his side's spirit as they defeated Australia 3-0 at Thong Nat Stadium on Thursday to book a place in the final of the AFC Women's Asian Cup.
The North Koreans dominated for the majority of the match as 2007 AFC Women's Player of the Year Ri Kum-suk once again proved the difference by grabbing a hat-trick and ensuring her side remain on target for a third Asian Cup title.
The East Asians last won the tournament five years ago and Kim admitted he was delighted that his players overcame tricky conditions to secure the win.
"This match was not easy for us," he said.
"Australia have a very strong team that are very skilful but our players showed a great spirit to win.
"The weather was very hot but we were strong and coped well to overcome that and get the win."
Australia coach Tom Sermanni had no complaints with the result, admitting DPR Korea outplayed his side for much of the match.
But the Scot believes the tournament has highlighted some weak areas in his side that he will now look to rectify.
"It was a very fair result," said Sermanni.
"North Korea were considerably better than we were in ever area of the field and they out played us for most of the game.
"The thing I was most disappointed in was the way we conceded the goals. We knew before the game we would have to defend for large parts of the match.
"But our aim was to get to the semi-finals and we have done that so in that sense I am quite pleased with what we have achieved.
"On the downside some poor habits have come back into the team which suggests that you need to keep reinforcing things to the players.
"We now need to take a couple of steps back before we start progressing forward again."
Sermanni also praised the contribution of goal scorer Ri Kum-suk, who once again proved pivotal for her side.
"She is an outstanding player," he added. "All-in-all she is a tremendous footballer, she makes the team flow and makes the difference for them.
"She is also a very difficult player to pin down and mark as she has such a good football brain she gets into good areas."
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