February 4 – China and South Korea will face each other in Sunday’s final of the Asian Women’s Cup after they beat Japan and the Philippines on an evening of high drama in India.
With the match level at 2-2 after extra time, it took the penalty shoot-out for eight-time champions China to overcome current champions Japan.
China had to come from behind twice, the second time with just a minute left on the extra time clock before captain Wang Shanshan equalised.
China’s goalkeeper Yu Zhu saved the first and fifth penalties before Wang Shanshan stepped up to won the shoot-out for the Chinese 4-3.
“It was a long road to victory,” said China’s head coach Shui Qingxia. “Before the match, I told every player to play to the best of their abilities and show the spirit of Chinese football. I want to thank the team and every team member for all their efforts, fought hard for the win.”
South Korea through
South Korea completed a comfortable 2-0 win over the Philippines to qualify for their first Asian Women’s Cup final.
The Philippines had never progressed this far in the competition before and have been rewarded with qualification for the 2023 World Cup. But the semi-final saw them under pressure from the start.
In the fourth minute when Player of the Match Cho So-hyun headed in Kim Hye-ri’s corner past Philippines goalkeeper Olivia McDaniel. The Koreans were two up before the half hour mark with a goal from Son Hwa-yeon scoring in the first half for the East Asian side with China PR awaiting them in Sunday’s title decider.
“The girls have worked tremendously hard the whole tournament, and to actually get to the final after this game is such a big achievement,” said Korea Republic head coach Colin Bell. “We’re happy we got the result and the chance to play in the final.”
Vietnam on brink
Vietnam are just one win away from their first appearance at the Women’s World Cup after winning the first of the play-off matches for the fifth automatic qualifying spot for the Australia/New Zealand 2023 finals.
First half goals from Huynh Nhu and Thai Thi Thao saw the Vietnamese beat Thailand 2-0. They now face Chinese Taipei in a winner-takes-all play-off on Sunday.
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