The women's national soccer team convenes for Olympic qualifiers in Paris Courtesy of the Korea Football Association

The Korean women's soccer team, led by head coach Colleen Bell, is back in the hunt for its first-ever Olympic qualification.

The women's national team convened at Paju NFC on Saturday morning for the second Asian qualifier for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The second Olympic qualifier will be held in Xiamen, China, from June 26 to July 1. The 12 teams will be divided into three groups of four.

South Korea is in Group B and will face North Korea, China, and Thailand. The top three teams from each group, plus one team from the top three, will advance to the final round of qualifying for the two Olympic tickets allocated to Asia.

Colleen Bell, head coach of the Hangzhou Asian Games women's national soccer team, gives training instructions at the Paju National Training Center (NFC) during the team's match on Aug. 18.

It's a daunting task. Unlike men's soccer, women's soccer at the Olympics does not have an age limit, so the A team will compete. Since the 1996 Atlanta Games, South Korea has never qualified for the Olympic women's soccer tournament. They also missed out on qualifying for Tokyo 2020 after losing to China in the final playoff.

The team will spend a week in Paju before traveling to Xiamen, China, for the tournament on Sept. 23.

Eighteen of the 22 players were called up today, excluding overseas players Lee Young-joo (Madrid CFF), Choi Yuri (Birmingham City) and Lee Keum-min (Brighton), who will join the squad directly.

Veteran Park Eun-sun (Seoul Metropolitan Government) was replaced by Kim Se-yeon (Yesung Girls' High School) due to a knee injury, while goalkeeper Ryu Ji-soo (Seoul Metropolitan Government) was replaced by Kim Kyung-hee (Suwon FC). Kim Kyung-hee was also unable to join the team due to her current national championship schedule.

The women's national soccer team ahead of the Paris Olympic qualifiers, courtesy of the Korea Football Association

Midfielder Lee Min-ah (Incheon Hyundai Steel) was also among the 18, but she was forced to train indoors on the first day due to injury.

"North Korea and China, who are in the same group, are strong teams," Bell told reporters after the call-up, "so we'll try to figure out how to win against them because small differences can make the difference between winning and losing."

South Korea was previously eliminated by North Korea in the quarterfinals of the Hangzhou Asian Games with a 1-4 defeat. This time around, they need to get past North Korea to advance to the knockout stage.

"We are fully aware that they are a strong opponent. Mentally and physically, we have to be stronger. We will prepare thoroughly to win every match."

Casey Fair joined the team after the Women's World Cup 2023.

Casey Eugene Fair, a mixed-race player born in 2007, also joined the national team after the Women's World Cup. At the Women's World Cup, she became the youngest player to ever play in a Women's World Cup when she appeared in the first match of Group H at 16 years and 26 days.

"The World Cup gave me invaluable experience," she said, "and now I'm determined to work hard to reach my first Olympic Games."

"We didn't get the results we wanted at the World Cup and Asian Games, but we're not giving up and will continue to work towards our goal of reaching our first Olympic Games," said Kim Hye-ri (Incheon Hyundai Steel), captain of the women's team. 스포츠토토맨