AFC Women's Asian Cup - A lesson well learnt, says DPR Korea’s Ri

Perth: Head coach Ri Song Ho praised his players despite DPR Korea falling to a 2-1 defeat against Australia in the quarter-finals of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup Australia 2026™ at Perth Rectangular Stadium on Friday.

The three-time champions took the game to Australia and had opportunities to win with Ri saying he could not fault his players' efforts.

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“Even though we lost, I’m proud that our players fought until the very last moment. We conceded two goals from simple mistakes and that made the difference,” said Ri.

“The whole game was a valuable lesson for the team and for our development. Matches like this are a good opportunity for us to improve and continue building the team.”

DPR Korea created numerous opportunities, registering 21 shots - 10 of which were on target - but were unable to find the equaliser after pulling one back in the second half through Chae Un Yong.

“Sometimes we play very well and sometimes we don’t. There are big ups and downs in our performances and we need to work hard to solve these problems. This is part of the development process we must go through."

“We tried to block their key forwards (Sam Kerr, Mary Fowler), but those players were very good at moving in front of the goal and they punished our mistakes. Our plan didn’t work as well as we had hoped so we need to improve and overcome these shortcomings.”

Ri’s side will now turn their focus to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Brazil 2027 playoff, where they will face either China PR or Chinese Taipei on Thursday.

A lesson well learnt, says DPR Korea’s Ri

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