Eight suddenly became four as the quarter-finals were held in Amman and Irbid over two days. The final four are made up of one team from each of the groups in the first round of the tournament; Spain, Venezuela, Korea DPR and Japan.
Venezuelan captain Deyna Castellanos fired her team into the next stag of the tournament with two stunning strikes inside four minutes leaving Mexico stunned and out of the competition.
Later that evening the battle of the European giants proved to be too big of a test for Germany, who despite having previously beaten Spain in three European Championship finals, were unable to overcome them in their first me
Less surprisingly 2008 Champions Korea DPR and current holders, Japan, both progressed from their quarter-final games. North Korea’s Ja Un Young fumbled the ball into the back of the net to devastate Ghana in the dying minutes, while Japan’s striking duo Jun Endo and Riko Ueki undit England with three goals for open play.
That leaves four games left in the U-17 Women’s World Cup, starting with the games that will decide who moves onto the quarter-finals…
Deyna Castellanos celebrates scoring for Venezuela in the U-17 WWC (image: FIFA WWC Twitter)
Venezuela vs North Korea
Despite Venezuela losing their first group match against Germany, they have came back strongwinning, with their skipper Deyna Castellanos right at the heart of it, scoring five times in four games.
While Venezuela are the most experienced team North Korea are undefeated in all four matche, they have scored two more goals than their semi-final counterparts, with four different scorers and Hae Yong being at the top as she’s hit the back of the net four times.
The spotlight has firmly been on Castellanos throughout the Vinotinto’s campaign, there are a host of players key to Venezuela’s current form. Take defensive pairing Sandra Luzardo and Veronica Hererra who have been key for Venezuela’s defensive record – only conceding four goals in four games.
These two teams have never faced each other on the world stage but have competed in multiple U-17 WWC. Both teams certainly have the credientials to reach the finals in the competition, North Korea have done it before when they won in 2008. However, Venezuela’s trophy cabinet has been added to more recently with back-to-back South American Championship wins.
Spain v Japan
Japan are the only team that go into the semi-finals having won all four their games, Spain finished their group second only dropping two points against Mexico, who were knocked out of the tournament in the quarter-finals.
This is the fourth time that the two teams have met in this tournament, Japan winning the three most recent meetings since their 4-1 defeat in Trindad & Tobago.
Despite Japan being the favourites, Spain certainly displayed that they have the tools to take down the most organised of sides when they eliminated Germany through Natalia Ramos and Eva Navarro.
At the beginning of the tournament Lorena Navarro looked to be a huge threat when she put five goals past hosts Jordan, though she remains joint top goalscorer of the tournament she hasn’t scored since and didn’t feature against Germany.
While the Little Nadeshiko are roaring ahead with 16 goals so far in the tournament, Spain’s attacking record as a collective has been the most ferocious with 97 attempts on goal. Both sides have opted for the method of rotation, sharing depth to their 21-player squads, Japan have even swapped around goalkeepers mid-game.
Endo and Ueki have caused problems for every team that Japan have encountered on their way to the semi-finals, scoring seven goals between the pairing, as well as creating openings in their oppositions backlines to allow their teammates to score. However, Japan and Spain’s similar style of posession play could prevent that from happening as the action could diverted to the middle of the pitch.
Japan celebrate their progression to the semi-finals (image via FIFA WWC Twitter)
The semi-finals will take place on the 17th October at King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman. Venezuela v North Korea kicks off at 2pm and Spain vs Japan at 5pm( GMT).
