Korea start World Cup with disappointing 2-0 loss to Colombia

Korea’s 2023 Women’s World Cup journey got off to a humiliating start on Tuesday with a 2-0 loss to lower-ranked Colombia that sets the Taeguk Ladies up for a very difficult path to the knockout stage.

Korea's Park Eun-sun, center, reacts after losing 2-0 to Colombia in a Group H match at the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup at Sydney Football Stadium in Moore Park, Sydney on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Korea’s 2023 Women’s World Cup journey got off to a humiliating start on Tuesday with a 2-0 loss to lower-ranked Colombia that sets the Taeguk Ladies up for a very difficult path to the knockout stage.

Korea started confidently at Sydney Football Stadium in Moore Park, Australia on Tuesday, but gradually lost steam throughout the first half before becoming completely undone after a 30th-minute penalty allowed Colombia to score. A second goal soon followed, leaving Korea down by two going into the break and unable to recover.

Head coach Colin Bell started his strongest XI, including veteran stars Ji So-yun, Cho So-yun, Lee Geum-min and captain Kim Hye-ri.

The first 10 minutes went solidly in Korea's favors, with the Taeguk Ladies clearly ready to meet the Colombian's aggressive style with their own strong offense.

That attack started to wane around the 15-minute mark, and the game was fairly balanced until Shim Seo-yeon gave away a penalty with a handball in the box. Catalina Usme had little trouble converting, giving the Colombians a 1-0 lead.

The goal sucked the life out the Korean squad. What had been a fairly fiery offense quickly became scrappy and ineffective. Through balls went wide, attacks petered out before they'd even started and the defense was far more physical than it needed to be.

With Korea solidly on the back foot, Colombia had little trouble capitalizing on their momentum to hammer in a second goal nine minutes later. That effort, from the boot of Linda Caicedo, flew straight to goalkeeper Yoon Young-geul who was unable to clear her line despite getting both hands to the ball.

Korea returned in the second half with more confidence after what was likely a tough talk from Bell in the changing room during the break. The squad looked more cohesive and less frustrated, but struggled to really pull together anything coherent in the midfield.

The reliance and Ji and Cho, the most-capped Korean players ever, started to become a bit of an issue. Younger players desperately fed the pair the ball on every play, even when they were heavily marked or in no position to do anything with it.

Colombia's aggressive defense repeatedly proved too much for Korea to handle, with attacks quickly collapsing when faced with the overly physical approach of the opposing back line.

Bell made his first changes midway through the second half, bringing on Park Eun-sun and Kang Chae-rim to reinforce the attack, although neither player was able to make much of an impact during their 20 minutes on the pitch.

Perhaps the one highlight for Korea was the addition of 16-year-old Casey Phair in the 79th minute.

Korea's Casey Phair controls the ball during a Women's World Cup Group H match against Colombia at the Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney on Tuesday. [AP/YONHAP]

Phair, the youngest player ever to appear at a FIFA Women's World Cup, immediately through herself into the mix, proving fast, agile and not afraid to get her hands dirty when play turned physical. Although the young star was unable to make any difference to the final result, her addition to the squad is both an encouraging sign for Korea at this tournament and presumably for decades to come.

Despite the effort, the game ended with Korea down a disappointing 2-0, taking their fourth-consecutive World Cup loss and putting the squad in a very difficult position moving forward.

Korea, competing in Group H with Colombia, Morocco and Germany, will likely now have to beat both Morocco on Sunday and Germany next Thursday to be guaranteed a chance to reach the knockout stage — especially because the larger entry this year means that only the first and second teams from each group have a chance of advancing.

Germany currently lead Group H after beating Morocco 6-0 on Monday, with Colombia following. Korea sit in third, edging out Morocco on goal difference alone.

The Korea-Colombia game rounds out the first round of games at the World Cup, with New Zealand and the Philippines set to kick off the second round later on Tuesday afternoon as of press time.

Korea have four days to train before they are next in action on Sunday, when they will face Morocco at Hindmarsh Stadium in Adelaide at 2:30 p.m., or 1:30 p.m. in Korea.

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BY JIM BULLEY AND PAIK JI-HWAN [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]