North Korean coach deflects questions on South Korean fan support

By Yoo Jee-ho

SUWON, South Korea, May 19 (Yonhap) -- The head coach of the North Korean women's football club currently in South Korea for a continental competition deflected a question about support from South Korean supporters on Tuesday, saying the focus will remain on the pitch, not on the stands.

Head coach Ri Yu-il has taken Naegohyang Women's FC to the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League against Suwon FC Women of South Korea. The much-anticipated Korean showdown will kick off at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Suwon Stadium in Suwon, 30 kilometers south of Seoul.

It will be the first match between women's football clubs of the two Koreas on South Korean soil. Naegohyang are the first group of North Korean athletes to travel to South Korea for competition since December 2018.

Naegohyang's decision to cross the border for the showdown against Suwon sparked major interest in the tournament. The South Korean unification ministry even offered to use the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to purchase tickets for civic groups planning to form cheering squads. Some 3,000 supporters are expected to attend the historic match, with some 7,000 tickets available to the general public long sold out.

Naegohyang players and coaches were greeted by hundreds of civic group members when they landed at Incheon International Airport, via Beijing, Sunday afternoon. Asked at Tuesday's press conference if he and his players had felt the support from South Koreans and if they were looking forward to playing in front of a large crowd, Ri insisted Naegohyang were here for one purpose: to play football.

"I don't know if we will field more questions about cheering squads, but we are here to play matches," Ri said. "We will only concentrate on tomorrow's match and the one that will come afterward. The matter of cheering squads is really not for me as head coach or our players to discuss. We're just focusing on preparing for our matches."

Ri said he felt his players are "relatively well prepared" to take on Suwon FC Women, whom the North Korean side defeated 3-0 in their group stage meeting in November last year, with Yangon serving as the centralized venue then.

Ri also said he doesn't think Naegohyang's earlier win over Suwon will guarantee a favorite status for his side.

"From my perspective as head coach, I think all four clubs in the semifinals are capable of winning the title," Ri said. "Just because we played them in the group stage, we absolutely cannot say which team is strong and which team is weak. We will just have to do our best to accomplish a good result in tomorrow's match."

Naegohyang forward Kim Kyong-yong kept her answers stock and short, repeatedly saying she and her teammate will do their best to win Wednesday.

"The vibe on the team is really good," said Kim, the leading scorer and MVP of the 2017 AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup. "We will do our very best to live up to the expectations of our people and our families."