Japan, Korea DPR progress to Papua New Guinea - FIFA U-20 WOMEN'S WORLD CUP
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Japan and Korea DPR became the first and second Asian sides respectively to reach the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Papua New Guinea next year, with Japan edging Korea Republic 1-0 and Korea DPR beating China PR 2-0 in the semi-finals of the AFC U-19 Asian Nations Cup, held in Nanjing, China.
After a fierce battle, the Japanese finally capitalised on their domination in the final ten minutes. Positive wing play down their left led to a low cross by Meika Nishida who found Rikako Kobayashi to fire home with the aid of the post.
The second semi-final of the day saw Korea DPR take down China 2-0 to book another ticket for the U-20 Women's World Cup. Ri Un Sim opened the scoring for the Koreans 15 minutes before the break, and Ri Kyong Hyang secured the victory on the hour mark.
China PR will face Korea Republic this coming Saturday in the match for third place, the winner of which will take the final Asian place at Papua New Guinea 2016. Meanwhile, Japan and Korea DPR will face each other in the final of the AFC U-19 Asian Nations Cup the same day.
Aside from the hosts, the Japanese and Koreans join the European quartet on the world stage (France, Germany, Sweden and Spain) who qualified in July.