Veteran tall striker Park Eun-seon showed the aspect of a ‘game changer’ through overwhelming supply.
On the 7th, at the Suwon World Cup Stadium in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea defeated Zambia 5-2 in a friendly match for the women’s national team. The two teams will move to Mir Stadium in Yongin on the 11th for the second game.
The first half did not go the way Korea intended. In particular, after Cho So-Hyun’s opening goal in the 24th minute of the first half, the atmosphere went over to Zambia. With main defender Lim Seon-ju out due to injury, Rachel Kundananji scored the equalizer, and just before the end of the first half, Barbra Banda gave up a come-from-behind goal.
Manager Colin Bell tried a halftime change to create a twist. Before the start of the second half, the format was changed from 3-4-3 to 4-3-3. And at the same time, 182cm tall striker Park Eun-seon was put in.
Park Eun-seon’s card hit the mark. With Park Eun-seon entering, Korea took control of the front line. When a high-flying cross was delivered from the rear or side, Park Eun-sun checked the position of her teammates in advance and distributed the ball through a header pass. A similar pattern was repeated several times, but the Zambian defense could not block Eun-sun Park’s aerial attack even after knowing it.
This pattern led to a goal in the 13th minute of the second half. Park Eun-seon dropped the ball on her head and headed for Lee Geum-min, and Lee Geum-min’s shot went past the goalkeeper and into the net. Korea equalized and raised the mood 4 minutes later with Lee Geum-min’s additional goal, and Cho So-hyun’s goal in the 39th minute put a wedge in the game.
Park Eun-seon also shook the net directly during extra time in the second half. Geum-Min Lee exchanged passes with Ga-Ram Chun, breaking through the right side of the penalty box and sending a grounder cross to the goal. It seemed that the opposing defender was much closer to the ball and could easily clear it, but Park Eun-sun did not give up and rushed in front of the goal. At this time, the Zambian defense team was out of breath and the ball flowed, and Park Eun-sun kicked it into the goal and scored. This goal was Park Eun-sun’s first A-match goal in nine years.
Veteran striker Park Eun-seon, born in 1986, was away from the national team for a while, but returned to the national team last year after seven years after being called by coach Bell. Director Bell is using Park Eun-seon, who is experienced and has a solid weapon, as the ‘joker’. All seven matches he played after returning to the national team were substitute appearances. Park Eun-sun, who gradually melted into the team, played a big role in the match against Zambia and emerged as a hidden card for Colin Bellho ahead of the 2023 World Cups in Australia and New Zealand. 안전놀이터
Both team coaches who attended the post-game press conference evaluated that Park Eun-sun’s input changed the direction of this game. Zambia coach Bruce Mwafe picked “Striker No. 13 (Park Eun-sun)” as one of the most impressive Korean players and said, “In the second half, Korea had strength in the post play. The movement of the newly introduced striker (Park Eun-sun) was good.” . Coach Bell praised Park Eun-sun, saying, “I am very happy with Park Eun-sun’s performance, who has worked so hard. Today’s game has completely changed.”