Nigeria v. Mexico (16.00) precedes Japan v. Korea (19.30) at Kokuritsu today as the quarter finals of the Japan 2012 U20 WWC get underway.
Nigeria v. Mexico
The pair have already faced each other in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, drawing 1-1 in the first round two years ago. The player who netted Nigeria’s goal on that occasion, Ebere Orji, is also taking part in this tournament.
Nigeria have reached the last eight for the fifth consecutive time out of a total of six participations. However, the Falconets have only got beyond the quarter-finals once, in 2010, and have a record of one win and one loss in penalty shoot-outs. As for Mexico, this is the second time in a row that Las Aztecas have qualified for the quarter-finals, coming after the 2010 edition when they were knocked out by Korea Republic.
There have been eight previous encounters between CONCACAF and CAF sides in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and CONCACAF have the better record with four wins, three draws and one defeat. The only prior meeting in the knockout phase also happened in the quarter-finals, at the 2010 edition, when Nigeria and USA battled to a 1-1 draw after extra time before the African side clinched victory on penalties.
This is Mexico supremo Leonardo Cuellar’s tenth match as a coach at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. He is the seventh coach in the tournament’s history to have reached double figures and follows in the footsteps of German tactician Maren Meinert, who has overseen 19 matches prior to the quarter-finals, Ian Bridge of Canada and Choe Kwang Sok of Korea DPR (both on 16), Silvia Neid of Germany (12), English coach Mo Marley (11) and Stephane Pilard of France (ten).
All seven of Mexico’s opening-round goals were netted in the second half.
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s two matches, Korea DPR and USA have met in the final of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2008, which culminated in a 2-1 victory to the Americans.
Japan v Korea
This is the first encounter between the two teams in the finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, although they have crossed paths no fewer than five times on the qualification trail. Japan largely dominated in those encounters, recording four wins plus one draw. The sides’ last showdown in October 2011 resulted in a 3-1 win to Japan.
This is the third all-Asian encounter in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. It follows on from Korea DPR’s 5-0 victory over China PR in the 2006 final, and another North Korean win (2-1) in the 2008 quarter-finals against Japan.
Japan have made it into the last eight for the third time, having already done so in 2002 and 2008, whereas Korea Republic have progressed to the quarter-finals for the second consecutive edition.
All four of Korea Republic’s opening-round goals were scored in the second half between the 54th and 82nd minutes.
This is the fourth time that the tournament hosts have advanced to the quarter-finals. Canada and Germany went on to reach the semi-finals in 2002 and 2010 respectively, whereas Russia were eliminated at the quarter-final stage in 2006.
Go Young Nadeshiko – make us proud!
SAITAMA tomorrow August 31st
DPR Korea v. USA 16.00
Germany v. Norway 19.30
North Korea v. USA
The two teams met in the final of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2008, which culminated in a 2-1 victory to the Americans.
This is Korea DPR’s 20th match in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. The East Asians have won their last three games, although they achieved their longest winning streak of six games during their title-winning 2006 campaign.
USA have a positive record against Asian sides in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. In seven encounters they have accrued four wins, two draws and just one defeat, 2-0 at the hands of China PR in the opening round of the 2008 edition.
Korea DPR, the most prolific scorers at this edition of the tournament with 15 goals so far, struck seven of those in the last 15 minutes of the first halves of their games, including stoppage time.
USA have scored five goals and Maya Hayes bagged four of them, the other being an own goal.
Germany v. Norway
This is the pair’s first showdown in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. In the finals of other FIFA competitions, they have played each other twice in the FIFA Women’s World Cup and twice in the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. The Germans have historically had the upper hand in the head-to-head series, notching three victories to Norway’s one, although that solitary Norwegian success came in the final of the 1995 global showpiece in Sweden.
The sides have also met in two European finals at U-19 level, with Germany prevailing 3-2 in the 2000/01 edition and cantering to an 8-1 win in the 2010/11 campaign.
As well as having matched USA’s record of ten straight victories in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, Germany have also kept four consecutive clean sheets, equalling the tournament record set by USA between 2006 and 2008 and China PR in 2006. Since Korea Republic’s Ji So Yun breached their defences in the 2010 edition, the Germans have gone 386 minutes without conceding a goal, a run bettered only by China (508 minutes) and USA (467).
Norway have reached the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup for the first time, whereas Germany have made it into the last eight it in all six editions held to date (as have USA).
German tactician Maren Meinert is overseeing her 20th match at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, setting a new tournament record for the most matches as coach.