Marabella: Defending champions DPR Korea turned in disciplined performance to tame Germany 1-0 in the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World in Trinidad and Tobago late Thursday.
Kim Kum Jong fired a brilliant goal on the stroke of halftime to see the defending champions through to the last four. The East Asians will now play the winner of the Japan versus Republic of Ireland quarter-final in Arima on Friday
"Germany are a very powerful side and they have a lot of skill and physical strength to go with it,” DPR Korea coach Ri Song-Gu paid handsome tributes to the rivals.
“Their players are technically gifted and very strong mentally. But we were going to give it our best shot because we want to retain the title.”
The Germans dictated the early goings-on and the Asians were content to sit back and hit out on the occasional counter-attack.
After Germany had a couple of attempts on goal, Choe Jong Hwa failed to convert after hitting over from 12 yards out with German keeper Lena Nuding completely off her line.
After Melanie Leupolz has missed a golden chance for Germany, the solitary goal of the arrived when Kim Kum Jong collected the ball about 35 yards from goal and hammered a brilliant strike into the top corner.
A goal down, the Germans came out after the break firing on all cylinders and Lena Petermann missed what was perhaps the easiest chance of the game only before the DPR Korean backline firmed up and stayed solid with goalkeeper Choe Kyong Im working hard as the last line of defence.
It has been quite a comeback for the Koreans from the north of the peninsula since losing their first group match to Nigeria 3-2. They recovered smartly by keeping clean sheets against Chile and then Trinidad and Tobago.
source : afc.com
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