SUZHOU, April 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea team head coach Colin Bell has called for an "almost perfect game" for his team to win the second leg of the Tokyo Olympic qualification playoffs against China, which is scheduled to kick off on Tuesday in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province.
"To win tomorrow, we have to play an almost perfect game," Bell said at a pre-match press conference on Monday. After losing 2-1 in the first leg at home last Thursday, the German coach admitted that it will take a massive effort from his players in order to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in the team's history.
"They're a powerful team," Bell said. "We need to have confidence in our ability and try to get a hold of the game, which we didn't do in the first 15, 20 minutes last Thursday. It was two defensive errors that led to our defeat and we need to eradicate those moments."
With the away goals rule is in effect, the South Korean side has to score at least two goals in the match if they want to get the last Asian ticket to Tokyo. Bell said that it's not a daunting task, but "a good and exciting challenge for us."
"We believe in our ability. We have analyzed the (first) game very closely and we're hoping we can achieve our goal, and that is to qualify for the Olympics. Nothing has changed in that aspect," he noted. "The most important thing is intrinsic motivation. When you're a professional athlete and you have a chance of qualifying for the Olympics, that should be motivation enough. My job is to get that extra little bit out of them."
Bell also praised China's epidemic prevention efforts in order to run the tournament successfully, saying that he is very thankful for the preparation works and facilities China provided. Enditem