South Korea on Friday announced their women's football squad for the Asian qualifiers of the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, led by Chelsea Ladies FC attacker Ji So-yun.
The Korea Football Association unveiled the 20-woman squad for the final regional qualification round for the Summer Games in Rio. The qualification starts Feb. 29 and ends March 9 in Osaka, Japan. South Korea, North Korea, Japan, Australia, China and Vietnam will play each other once, and the top two teams will earn their tickets to Brazil.
Among 20 players on the list, 14 played at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, where South Korea reached the round of16 for the first time. The squad also includes overseas-based players like Ji, who won the Women's Player of the Year award in England last year and is the all-time top scorer for the women's team, and midfielder Jeon Ga-eul, who last month signed with the Western New York Flash, an American club.
Coach Yun Duk-yeo said the team will utilize talented midfielders in the qualifiers. He has been training with 26 players in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, since Feb. 4, but had to drop six players for the final list.
South Korea, ranked 18th in the recent FIFA rankings, opens the final Olympic qualification against No. 6 ranked North Korea on Feb. 29, followed by Japan (March 2), Australia (March 4), China (March 7) and Vietnam (March 9).
The team will travel to Japan on Feb. 25. (Yonhap)
