S Korea-football tournament

▲ South Korea head coach Colin Bell speaks at a press conference at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney on July 24, 2023, the eve of the team's Group H match against Colombia at the FIFA Women's World Cup. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean players and coaches prepare for the start of a training session at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney on July 24, 2023, the eve of the team's Group H match against Colombia at the FIFA Women's World Cup. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean players prepare for the start of a training session at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney on July 24, 2023, the eve of the team's Group H match against Colombia at the FIFA Women's World Cup. (Yonhap)

▲ South Korean players take part in a training session at Leichhardt Oval in Sydney on July 24, 2023, the eve of the team's Group H match against Colombia at the FIFA Women's World Cup. (Yonhap)

S Korea-football tournament

Coach says improved S. Korea prepared to test limits vs. Colombia at Women's World Cup

SYDNEY, July 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea head coach Colin Bell expressed his confidence in a "much stronger" team on his hand Monday, the eve of the country's opening FIFA Women's World Cup match in Australia.

South Korea, world No. 17, will begin their Group H play against 25th-ranked Colombia on Tuesday at Sydney Football Stadium in Sydney. The kickoff is noon local time, or 11 a.m. in Seoul.

At the prematch presser, Bell said South Korea have made strides in many aspects since he took over in 2019.

"We have higher tactical knowledge and flexibility. We have players with much more speed," Bell said. "We know the strengths of Colombia. We think we've defined where we can hurt them. And then it's a question of the girls bringing it through and having that confidence in their own ability but also weathering the storm. Obviously, they will be as well prepared as we are. But our game has developed. The team is much stronger now than it was in 2019."

Bell has been running his players through some grueling conditioning drills, trying to whip them into shape to withstand the grind of high-stress World Cup matches.

"We are prepared, in the 90 and 95, 98 minutes or however long the match will be, to really go on to our limit and to suffer in that respect," he said. "It will hurt, every meter, every kilometer that they run, every sprint. But that's what we want to see from our players. We never give up and we will not give up until the final whistle goes tomorrow."

South Korea are playing in their fourth Women's World Cup and will try to reach the knockout stage for the second time, after making it to the round of 16 in 2015.

Colombia have developed an early reputation as a physical team. Ireland halted their tuneup match against Colombia earlier this month because things got a bit chippy and physical.

Bell said he has enjoyed watching physicality come into play so far in the tournament.

"I love the physical side of football. Football is a contact sport and that's what we've been seeing," he said. "All the teams are well organized and have the certain amount of individual quality and class. Some teams have maybe more players with that individual quality and better ability than others. But every team has players that are very exciting. I think that's also great for the women's game, just to see how it's developing."

Bell also took a moment to reflect on his time with South Korea so far, calling his experience "a great privilege."

"I love South Korea. I feel really, really happy in the country. It's a fantastic place to live," the Englishman said. "I'm very privileged to be working with the great group of girls. We've had our ups and downs. We've laughed together, we've cried together, and we've had success, we've had disappointments. But it's all brought us closer together.

"And with that emotion and that feeling, we've tried to find a strategy to win because that was always my intention: to try to help these players achieve something that they maybe never achieved before," Bell continued. "We'll just see what we can achieve, but I want them to be excited. I want them to embrace the challenge. I hope that we can all do our country proud because I know the girls also feel very strongly for their own culture and for their country."

After Colombia, South Korea will take on 72nd-ranked Morocco on Sunday in Adelaide and then world No. 2 Germany on Aug. 3 in Brisbane.

There are eight groups of four countries, and the top two teams from each group will advance to the knockouts.

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