South Korea's Yoo Younga (#12) against Costa Rica. (Photo : Reuters)
FIFA world no. 3 France will face world no. 18 South Korea in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup's Round-of-16 knockout stage to be held at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Canada on Sunday, June 21.
France almost dominated Group F of the qualification round if not only for a 0-2 lackluster performance against lowly Colombia in the second round. Despite that, Les Bleues remains to be the top favorite behind Germany and the United States to take the cup home this year.
After smashing Mexico in their last outing of the group stage, 5-0, Philippe Bergeroo girls are ready to show their true form in this knockout match against South Korea. They are definitely not taking the Taegeuk Ladies lightly, as per ESPN, as Yoon Deok-yeo squad is capable of beating any seeded team in this tournament.
South Korea's 2-1 upset win over Spain catapulted them into the knockouts and proved that they can be at par with teams that are seeded better. France would not want a repeat of what happened with Colombia and they should be prepared for what team captain Cho So-hyun and her crew will throw at them.
The Spaniards held the Koreans scoreless in the first half and even led 1-0 at halftime. But the Cho and substitute defender Kim Soo-yun scored consecutive goals in the 53rd and 78th-minute marks to lift them in the match, via US News.
Prediction: France over South Korea, 3-0. The loss to Colombia is a valuable lesson for Bergeroo and his wards. They will not let it happen again.
France starting lineup (4-2-2-2 formation): Bouhaddi; Boulleau, Renard, Georges, Houara; Abily, Henry; Nécib, Thomis; Thiney, Le Sommer
South Korea starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Kim J.; Kim H., Kim D., Shim, Lee; Kwon, Cho; Kang, Ji, Jeon; Yoo
