Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
San Jose: Japan won their maiden FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup crown as they beat Spain 2-0 at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in Costa Rica on Saturday.
Japan finally clinched the title after coming close to it in the Trinidad and Tobago 2010 final when they succumbed to Korea Republic in a penalty shootout.
Little Nadeshiko scored a goal in each half of the match against the Spanish side whom they head defeated in their first match in the group stages by the same scoreline.
The Japanese claimed the lead after just five minutes when Spain’s Elena De Toro tipped Shiho Matsubara’s looping shot into the crossbar, a rebound from which Meika Nishida coolly sent into the roof of the net from close range.
The goal that crushed Spain’s hopes of making a comeback materialised on 78 minutes as substitute Fuka Kono scored their second with an easy finish past the goalkeeper following a perfect short pass by Rikako Kobayashi which opened up the defence.
Japan finished unbeaten and scored a total 23 goals and conceded only one throughout the campaign.
Two other Asian teams, DPR Korea and China, also played in the tournament but crashed out during the group stages.
Photo: FIFA.com