Casey Eugene Fair (PDA) has been named to head coach Colin Bell’s final squad for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. She becomes the youngest player in the national team’s history and the first biracial player to make the final Women’s World Cup roster.
“I think I have the ability to contribute to the team, such as attacking one-on-one on the flanks,” Fair told reporters at the National Training Center (NFC) in Paju after the roster was announced on Friday, “and I’ll try to do whatever I can to help the team,” she said.
Fair was born in South Korea to an American father who worked as an English teacher and a Korean mother. Fair is a highly sought-after prospect in the United States, which is ranked No. 1 in the FIFA World Rankings. He plays for the U.S. soccer club’s Player’s Development Academy (PDA) and was named to the U.S. U-15 national team’s call-up roster last year. As a dual citizen, he has yet to play in an A-match (an international match between national teams) for any of the adult national teams, so he should have no problem making the cut for the South Korean national team. In April of last year, she played for the U-16 national team under the Taeguk-marked flag, competing in the first round of qualifying for the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-17 Women’s Asian Cup. She scored five goals in two matches 안전토토사이트.
“My goal is to one day play for the South Korean women’s national team and lift the FIFA Women’s World Cup trophy with my teammates,” she said in an interview with the Korea Football Association last November. True to her word, she’s going to the World Cup wearing the Taeguk mark.
The pair passed Bell’s hellish fitness regimen. “She’s physically strong and has good finishing ability with both feet,” says Bell of the frontline striker, who cites world-class striker Elling Holland (Manchester City) as a role model. He’s a good learner. He has adapted well in Korea and has shown that he deserves to be here.”
Bell also sees himself as a “protector” of the “still young” Fair. That’s why she’s had so little media exposure since she first joined the South Korean women’s soccer team in early June as a mixed-race player. “I intentionally kept her away from the media because I wanted her to have an environment where she could focus on showing what she can do,” Bell said. “It’s also my job as a coach to protect her so that her potential can blossom.” Bell was also unusually supportive when Pair was in front of the media.
When asked if he thought she had what it takes to play in the actual World Cup, Bell said, “(She’s) not going to the World Cup as a passenger. He’s a valuable player on the roster,” Bell said, adding, “We want him and the younger players like Chun Garam (Hwacheon KSPO-2002) and Bae Ye-bin (Widok University-2004) to bring competition, and they’re doing that.”