A totally unprecedented final –

North Korea and Japan will play today in the final of the U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia, a match between hitherto undefeated teams that from the beginning started as favorites to win the title.

The Japanese, who will play in their third consecutive final, will seek their second title after the one achieved in France 2018, while the North Koreans will try to lift the trophy for the third time, after doing so in Russia 2006 and Papua New Guinea 2016.

This final will then be between two scoring teams that like to associate, attack and hold nothing back in the matches.

The duel will be a chance for revenge for the Japanese, who lost in the final of the U-20 Women’s Asian Cup on March 16 in Uzbekistan, against the rivals they will face this afternoon.

For the duel for the title, Michihisa Kano, coach of the Japanese, will be able to count on his best players at the highest level, such as midfielder Manaka Matsukubo, who scored a double in the semifinal against the Netherlands; the attacker Maya Hijikata, the tournament’s top scorer with five goals, and the midfielder Aemu Oyama, who is in charge of organizing the team from the bottom.

To reach the final, Japan beat New Zealand 7-0, Ghana 4-1 and Austria 2-0, winning Group E. For the round of 16, they defeated Nigeria with a 2-1 victory. .

In the quarterfinals they beat Spain 1-0 and beat the Netherlands 2-0 in the semifinals.

The Japanese strategist assured that after the pandemic, Japanese teams have aimed to surpass the achievements achieved in the past and “be able to do things even better.”

“The World Cup final is extremely significant for us and to be able to continue with our achievements,” he highlighted yesterday at the press conference prior to the grand final.

In turn, North Korea has demonstrated on the field its status as favorite under the leadership of midfielder Chae Un Yong, who is the axis of her team and one of the top scorers in the Cup, with five goals.

Ri Song Ho, North Korean strategist, has managed to create a goal-scoring machine that has scored 24 goals in six games played in the tournament.

“We achieved a lot, I’m sure the Japanese players have also worked very hard and improved their game. So if we all work hard and our team too, we will surely have a very good result,” said Song Ho.

On their way to the final, North Korea beat Argentina 6-2, Costa Rica 9-0 and the Netherlands 2-0 in the group stage.

Then they defeated Austria 5-2 in the round of 16, Brazil 1-0 in the quarterfinals and also the United States by a narrow margin in the semifinals.— EFE