AFC Women’s Champions League semi-final. [Photo: Coupang Play]
Coupang Play said on Tuesday it will provide a free live broadcast of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Champions League semi-final between Suwon FC Women and North Korea’s Naegohyang Women’s Football Club.
The match will be held at 7 p.m. on May 20 at Suwon Sports Complex. Coupang Play will offer it free to both Wow members and general members.
The match marks the first visit to South Korea by a North Korean women’s football club and the first inter-Korean women’s football meeting since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, 12 years ago. For the full squad, it is the first official visit since 2018, eight years ago.
Pyongyang-based Naegohyang Women’s Football Club was founded in 2012, and many of its players are national-team level. It has won North Korea’s top division twice and beat Suwon FC Women 3 to 0 in a group match in November last year.
Suwon FC Women feature current and former national team players including So Yeon Ji (지소연), Hyeri Kim (김혜리) and Yuri Choe (최유리). In the quarter-finals in March, it thrashed defending champion Wuhan Jiangda of China 4 to 0 to reach the semi-finals.
Commentator Ji Hyun Jang (장지현) and play-by-play announcer Jang Hyun Yoon (윤장현) will call the match. The winner on May 20 will play in the final against the winner of the semi-final between Melbourne City and Tokyo Verdy at 2 p.m. on May 23. Coupang Play will also broadcast live the remaining semi-final and the final.