Action from the DPR Korea-China semi-final in the AFC U-19 Women's Championship in Chongqing on Saturday.

CHONGQING: Last edition’s runners-up and world champions DPR Korea downed hosts China 4-1 to set up the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship final with Japan here at the Chongqing Olympic Sports Centre Stadium on Saturday. Japan prevailed over Korea Republic 6-5 on penalties in the first semi-final. DPR Korea started aggressively and it paid dividends early when their midfielder Ryom Su Ok silenced the vociferous Chinese fans by drawing the first blood in the sixth minute from close range. Hwang Song Mi doubled their advantage in the 36th minute on a freekick when Chinese goalkeeper Chi Xiaohui failed to pouch the ball in the air as it slipped into the goal. The Koreans looked more relaxed than their 3-1 victory over Japan in the last group encounter and showed superior physical fitness compared to their Chinese rivals. Ri Ye Gyong made it 3-0 two minutes into the restart when her scorcher from 30 metres sailed into the right corner of the net as a hapless Xiaohui watched in awe. Ri completed her brace in the 83rd minute with a diving header. Chinese defender Ruan Xiaoqing pulled one back for the hosts in the 76th minute when Ma Zixiang’s corner kick landed in the box and Xiaoqing tapped the ball home in a goalmouth scramble. The presence of AFC Women’s and Youth Player of the Year Ma Xiaoxu in the Chinese ranks failed to help the hosts as the Korean defence did not give any leeway to the prolific striker. On Tuesday, the final will be preceded by third-place playoff between China and Korea Republic with the winner of this match is set to seal a FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup berth along side the finalists. China coach Gao Rongming blamed mistakes of his goalkeeper for the defeat. “We worked hard for this match but after conceding two first half goals due to our goalkeeper’s mistakes, my players were more nervous”.

“We played very tough in the second half and showed great perseverance and courage. However, too many technical errors let us down.”

“Most of our players were nervous because they are young and inexperienced. We are inferior to DPR Korea in certain aspects, especially running ability. We need to improve our physical fitness.”

Asked about Ma Xiaoxu’s performance today, Gao said, “Ma wanted to win the match but her injury might have affected her performance. She tried her best.”

DPR Korea coach Choe Kwang Sok, who also won the AFC Coach of the Year award, said: “The pitch was not in good condition as it rained heavily and the first semi-final between Korea Republic and Japan lasted very long on this surface but today our victory was all about sprit.”

“There are only three players in our team who played in the last edition of this tournament. We are not that strong this time but physical fitness saw us through.”