The Japanese team aims to qualify for the third consecutive final of the U-20 Women’s World Cupbut first they have to beat a surprising team from the Netherlands, executioner France in the round of 16 and host Colombia in the quarterfinals.
At the Pascual Guerrero stadium in Cali, this Wednesday the Asian team will also look for its sixth victory in as many games in the tournament, the last in the quarterfinals by 0-1, in extra time, against Spain.
Today, those led by Michihisa Kano will face a compact team that stands out, certainly, for asserting itself with effective defensive work and very quick transitions.
Goalkeeper Akane Okuma, who has conceded just two goals in five games, said after the match against Spain that they were confident of winning the tournament title in Colombia. “To fulfill our goal of winning the tournament, we need to recover properly and prepare for the next game,” added the goalkeeper.
In addition to the goalkeeper, Kano will have other players who rose to fame in the tournament such as forward Maya Hijikata, top scorer in the World Cup with five goals; midfielder Shinomi Koyama, who already has two assists, and winger Rio Sasaki, a missile on the wing.
The Netherlands, meanwhile, arrived motivated after keeping Pascual Guerrero quiet in the quarterfinals and ousting the hosts in a match in which Roos Kwakkenbos’ men suffered, but held on until penalties.
“We know it will be difficult to beat Colombia, but not impossible. We have a whole stadium against us, some very good players, but against these predictions we got a good result,” Kwakkenbos told Agencia EFE.
With that result, the Dutch returned to the stage they played on the first and only occasion at the U-20 World Cup in Costa Rica in 2022 where, like in Colombia, they did not arrive as favourites. This time they will be hoping to go beyond third place, which they lost to Brazil.
The main novelty is the reappearance of midfielder Ilse Kemper, who was suspended against Colombia due to the accumulation of yellow cards and is expected to return to the position where she was replaced by Nayomi Buikema.
Also, the coach will have his goalkeeper Femke Liefting, who has been a good figure against Colombia and hopes to claim the good level against the Japanese.
– Possible alignments:
Japan: Akane Okuma; Uno Shiragaki, Raika Okamura, Nana Kashimura, Rio Sasaki; Aemu Oyama, Shiomi Koyama, Manaka Matsubuko; Miyu Matsunaga, Maya Hijikata and Rihona Ujihara.
Netherlands: Femke Liefting; Louise Van Oosten, Djoeke De Ridder, Veerle Buurman, Emma Frijns; Kealyn Thomas, lse Kemper; Robine Lacroix, Iris Remmers, Bo Van Egmond, and Fleur Stoit.
Referee: Mexican Karen Hernández, who will be joined by her compatriots Jessica Morales and Elva Gutiérrez.
Stadium: Pascual Guerrero, Cali.
Time: 8:00 pm local (03:00 CET on Thursday).
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
