"Similar questions about the joint cheering squad may keep coming up, but we are here strictly to play matches."
Ri Yu-il, head coach of North Korea's Naegohyang Women's Football Club (hereinafter Naegohyang), made the remarks at an official press conference held at Suwon Sports Complex on the 19th, ahead of the semifinal of the 2025-2026 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women's Champions League (AWCL).
Naegohyang will face Suwon FC Women in the tournament's semifinal at the same venue at 7 p.m. on the 20th. Ahead of the match, more than 200 organizations, including the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation (KCRC) and the Civilian Council for Inter-Korean Cooperation, formed the "2026 AFC-AWCL Women's Football Joint Cheering Squad." About 3,000 joint supporters are expected to cheer for both teams.
Regarding this, Coach Ri drew a line, saying, "We will focus only on tomorrow's match and the matches ahead. The cheering squad issue is not something the players or the coaching staff need to be concerned with." He added, "Speaking about tomorrow's match, our preparations are relatively good. We will focus solely on the game. We will do our best to achieve good results."
Naegohyang is the first North Korean women's football club team to visit South Korea. Broadening the scope to women's national football teams, it marks the first such visit in 12 years since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games. As athletes, it is the first visit in eight years since Cha Hyo-sim, who competed in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) World Tour Grand Finals held in Incheon in December 2018.
Naegohyang, which defeated Suwon FC 3-0 in the group stage of this tournament, will face them again on the path to the final. Asked about the advantages or disadvantages of this rematch, Coach Ri replied, "The four teams that have advanced to the final stage are all capable of winning the championship, so just because we met in the group stage, we cannot say who is stronger or weaker based on those results." He added, "We will simply do our best to achieve good results in tomorrow's match."
Coach Ri is a veteran leader who has also led the North Korean national team. In 2022, when Naegohyang defeated the powerhouse April 25 team and lifted the championship trophy 10 years after its founding, he was named "Best Coach" by North Korea. Coach Ri is also the son of Ri Chan-myong, who was the goalkeeper when North Korea reached the quarterfinals of the 8th FIFA World Cup in England in 1966.
