South Korea beats Uzbekistan to reach Women's Asian Cup semifinals

SYDNEY, March 14 (Xinhua) -- South Korea secured a spot in the semifinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup and qualified directly for the 2027 World Cup with a 6-0 victory over Uzbekistan in Sydney on Saturday.

South Korea, which finished as runner-up at the 2022 Asian Cup, dominated the match with 26 shots to Uzbekistan's one. Son Hwa-yeon opened the scoring in the ninth minute, followed by a long-range goal from Ko Yoo-jin in the 20th minute.

Park Soo-jeong, Ji So-yun, and substitute Lee Eun-young added goals in the second half, before Jang Sel-gi converted a late penalty to complete the scoring.

South Korea will play the winner of Sunday's quarterfinal between Japan and the Philippines. ■