Bogota (dpa)
North Korea will face Japan in a thrilling final of the Women’s Under-20 World Cup in Colombia on Sunday.
North Korea enters the match with a psychological advantage over Japan, having beaten them in the final of the AFC U-20 Women’s Asian Cup in Uzbekistan last March.
The official website of the Asian Football Confederation stated that North Korea seeks to add its third world title to the two titles it won in 2006 and 2016. The North Korean team has appeared at a consistent level since the beginning of the current edition, as it began its campaign with a 6-2 victory over Argentina in Group Six.
This was followed by victories over Costa Rica (9-0) and the Netherlands (2-0), as well as a 5-2 win over Austria in the round of 16.
The North Korean team faced a tough test in the quarter-finals against Brazil, but came out victorious by one goal. Then they met the American team in the semi-finals, and also won by the same score.
“We are just one match away from becoming world champions, which is an amazing feeling,” said North Korea’s Chae Un-yong, who was named best player at the AFC U-20 Women’s Championship in Uzbekistan. “If we become world champions, it means we have done something great for our country. It means we have brought great honour to our country, and that is the most important thing.”
Regarding the Japanese team, Chai said: “Of course, the Japanese team is very strong and technically good, and controls the pace of the matches, but we have faced them before in the Asian Cup, and if we play now as we did then, I am confident that we can win the title.”
While North Korea are looking to win their third title in their fourth appearance in the final, Japan are looking to win their second title, having won the world title in 2018 and finished second two years ago.
The Japanese team qualified for the final match after achieving full marks in the group stage, as it topped Group Five, after defeating New Zealand 7-0, Ghana 4-1, and Austria 2-0.
In the round of 16, he defeated Nigeria 2-1, then he was able to take revenge on the Spanish team, after defeating it 1-0 in the quarter-finals, after extra time, and in the semi-finals he defeated the Dutch team with two goals.
Japan’s Manaka Masutakubo said her country is determined not to lose again, after failing to win the title in 2022 against Spain.
“I think everyone is tired, but we only have one game left, we can play it with this team, so being tired doesn’t mean anything, everyone will do their best for the team, and we definitely want to win,” she added.
The US team will meet its Dutch counterpart in the third-place match this evening, Saturday.
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