South Korea Defeats Spain, Advances To KO Stage

South Korea advanced to the knockout stage and eliminated Spain with a 2-1 score in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada Wednesday night.

The Korean team, also known as Taeguk Ladies, were down by a goal before coming back from behindto defeat Spain.

Kim Soo-yun netted the winner in the 78th minute to cap the Korean’s comeback effort surprising Spainiard goalkeeper Ainhoa Tirapu with a floater.

Spain dominated the first half with Veronica Boquete, who scored her only goal of the tournament in the 29th, taking charge of the game.

However, the Taeguk Ladies quickly handed the equalizer in the 58th minute mark as team captain Cho So-yun scored a header coming off a pass from Yu-mi Kang.

Marta Corredera and Silvia Meseguer had golden opportunities to score to rally Spain, but could not capitalize giving the Korean’s a ticket to the round of 16.

In the last play of the match, Spain’s Sonia Bermudez had a free kick that went off the crossbar. A tie game could have eliminated both teams from the knockout stage.

However, despite reaching the knockout stage for the first time, South Korea cannot be too contented of what they have achieved in the tournament.

"We want to go further. We have to keep playing well to help more and more girls pick up football. That's what we set out to do from the beginning," South Korea head coach Yoon Duk-yeo told reporters in Montreal on Thursday.

South Korea, a team that finished second in the group match behind Brazil with a 1-1-1 record, will be the clear underdogs in a match against French Team that decimated Mexico in a 5-0 win, but Yoon insisted he won’t be discouraged by the gap of both teams in terms of ranking.

"I am sure a lot of fans have watched women's football for the first time at this World Cup, and their expectations must have been heightened. It will generate more interest in our sport, and we have to take this opportunity to keep growing,” Yoon said to reports.

The South Korean coach knows well that France is a formidable team to beat, but vows that his team will not go down without a good fight.

Team captain Kim also believes Taeguk Ladies can hand with the heavily-favoured European team if they play their game well.