Japan women’s U20 team made history qualifying for FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup semi-final for the first time after failing in their previous three attempts.
The Young Nadeshiko in their fourth appearance made no mistake outplaying Brazil in all facets of the quarterfinal match winning convincingly by a 3-1 goal.
In the other quarterfinal played yesterday in Port Moresby, Spain were sent packing by Korea DPR 3-2 in a tough challenge where the winner was found in extra time.
Korea DPR is chasing their second title in their fifth appearance.
The Asian giants precede as first teams through to the last four.
Two qualifying matches today will see USA play Mexico and Germany challenge France with the winners meeting the Asians in the semi-final, and losers going home early.
Japan’s coach Asako Takakura after the match said, although Brazil was a tough team as shown in their previous matches, her girls defeated them by sticking to their game plan.
She made mention of their defence in the second half as the deciding factor.