Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Seoul: Korea Republic will be heading to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2014 with the main goal of winning the title or at least booking a place in next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, captain Shim Seoyeon has said.
The East Asian side have never won the Women’s Asian Cup before but Shim is adamant that the chances are high this time round as the team are gearing up for the competition next month.
“Of course, our goal, like any other title favourites, is to win the championship,” she told www.the-afc.com.
“But we will go step by step and the first step is progressing from the group stages and making it into the semis, which will ensure our place for next year’s Women’s World Cup in Canada as it’s been a bit long since we participated in it.
“Once we achieve that, our inclination will be towards the title and we will do our best to win the trophy in Ho Chi Minh City,” the 25-year old defender, who plays for Goyang Daekyo Women FC, said.
Korea Republic are in Group B where they will face the championship’s most successful side China alongside Thailand and Myanmar.
The top-two teams will advance into the semi-final while the third-placed side will have to play the fifth-placed playoff to determine a place in Canada 2015 against the third-placed team from Group A featuring Japan, Australia, Jordan and hosts Vietnam.
“I don’t think that the gap is huge and there are difficult matches but by saying so we are not taking teams lightly.
“The first match against Myanmar is important mainly because we don’t know them like we know China and Thailand. We should approach them very carefully as the geographical proximity of Myanmar to Vietnam will make them more adaptable to the competition’s local climate than us.
“It is necessary to aim high and there will be lots of positives if we go to the world stage as the Asian Cup champions than just managing qualifications as the cup-winning experiences will come into account on such big occasions.
“With DPR Korea missing out in the tournament, Japan have great chances and they are the favourites but the ball is round and nobody can tell the results beforehand so chances are equal,” she said buoyed by the fact that Korea Republic recently defeated world champions Japan 2-1 in the East Asian Football Federation Cup.