The Football Ferns tonight take on Korea Republic in the first of a two-game series in Goyang, Korea Republic. Here’s our preview.

How are we tracking?

With the various squad members balancing preseason, the effects of lockdown, and/or the end of their domestic seasons, Ford Football Ferns head coach Jitka Klimková says this tour, as with Canada last month, is about balancing the need for results with giving players international experience – if they’re ready for it.

“If someone is ready, they will play,” she says.

“If someone is not ready yet, they know what they have to work on - they will leave this tour knowing this is something that they need to get better with.

“It’s still very important for us to have good results, quality results - we are aware that Korea is a quality team. So balance is probably the right word for giving the young ones opportunity to play games.”

Ford Football Ferns: Ones to watch

Who to keep an eye on in the Ford Football Ferns squad?

Aotearoa New Zealand’s leading appearance maker Ria Percival comes back into the squad in a rich vein of form for Tottenham Hotspur. A key midfield cog in the Londoners’ challenge for Champions League football, she’s also adding goals into the mix – like this to equalise against Manchester United in the 95^th minute:

There’s a few youngsters that have returned from the Canada tour, like Ava Collins and Jacqui Hand, who both made their senior international debuts last month, and are back in the mix after strong showings against the Olympic champions.

Then there’s several A-League Women players who went to the Olympics but due to border restrictions were unavailable for the Canada tour, like Claudia Bunge and Paige Satchell, who will all be relishing the opportunity to be back in the Ferns mix.   

How are they tracking?

Korea Republic are the 18^th ranked side in the world, but have had an up and down 2021. After narrowly missing out on qualifying for Tokyo 2020, the Taeguk Ladies then easily qualified for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup India 2022, dispatching Mongolia 12-0 and Uzbekistan 4-0.

Last month they came up against the USA in a two-game series, holding the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 winners 0-0 before going down 6-0 in the second game.  

For Korea Republic, the focus will undoubtedly be on finalising preparations for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, with the ultimate prize there being qualification for FIFA Women’s (co-hosted by us, in case you hadn’t heard).

Korea Republic: Ones to watch

The majority of the Taeguk Ladies squad play in Korea Republic’s domestic top tier, the WK League. But there’s a few members of the side the Ford Football Ferns will be very familiar with.

Ji So-Yun is one. Nominated this week for FIFA’s The Best awards, she’s been a mainstay in Chelsea FC. Last season she was a pivotal member of Chelsea’s 2020/21 FA Women’s Super League winning side, and scored in their UEFA Women’s Champions League semi-final win over Bayern Munich.

Described by some as possibly the best foreign player in the history of the Women’s Super League, the technical midfielder has a knack for landing seemingly impossible passes and is the Taeguk Ladies’ record goal scorer with 59 goals.

And, of course, she was Ali Riley’s team mate when our skipper played for the Blues.

Staying in London, fellow midfielder Cho So-Hyun is a team mate of Ria Percival’s at Tottenham Hotspur. A box to box midfielder, Cho is the national team’s captain, and was the Korea Republic player of the year in 2015.

Heading to England’s south coast, Lee Geum-Min is a former team mate of Ferns defender Rebekah Stott during Stotty’s time at Brighton & Hove Albion, and has an eye for a spectacular goal – see below:

What’s the history between the two sides?

The Ford Football Ferns have played Korea Republic 11 times since the two sides first met in 1995, with a win-draw-loss record of 1-5-5. The Ferns last played Korea Republic in March 2019 in their final game at the Cup of Nations in Melbourne, Australia, going down 2-0 thanks to second half goals from Ji So-Yun and Moon Mi-Ra, in a game that marked Emma Kete’s 50^th cap.

The Ford Football Ferns take on Korea Republic at 6pm tonight at Goyang Stadium, Goyang. Catch the action live on Sky Sport 7.

Article added: Saturday 27 November 2021