2008 Final, 16/11/08

The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website | home

North Korea Claim Maiden U-17 Women's Final

by Jeremy Ruane

North Korea scored a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the USA at North Harbour Stadium on 16 November to become the first nation in history to win the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

The triumph, at the conclusion of a tense and gripping final, means the Asian giants are unquestionably the queens of age-grade women's football across the world, as they also hold the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, which they won in Russia in 2006.

The USA got off to the perfect start after just 102 seconds. A long throw-in from Cloee Colohan wasn't dealt with by the North Korean defence, and the ball bounced into the far corner of the net despite the despairing attempts of Hong Myong Hui to keep it out - she must have made contact for the goal to be awarded, although it was certainly unclear from video footage who did get the vital touch.

The Asian champions responded by dominating the first half-hour of play. Only a Colohan tackle denied Ho Un Byol in the sixth minute as she evaded four challenges en route to the heart of the US penalty area, while the same player was again on the charge two minutes later, forcing Taylor Vancil to smother her drive after Kim Uj and Jon Myong Hwa had combined to good effect.

After Kim Uj had rattled the hoardings from thirty-five yards in the fourteenth minute, the USA produced their first move of note three minutes later. Olivia Klei and Kristie Mewis combined, with the latter working a slick one-two with Courtney Verloo before whipping in a low cross to the far post, just beyond her incoming sister, Sam Mewis.

Three minutes later, Verloo just failed to make contact with a Julia Roberts free-kick, after which the Koreans regained the initiative. A Ho Un Byol free-kick was pawed out from beneath her crossbar by Vancil in the 24th minute, after which the red-clad team maintained steady pressure on their white-clad opponents, without USA's defence ever buckling - Colohan and Crystal Dunn were immense throughout.

On the half-hour, the USA began to gain the ascendancy, with Vicki DiMartino leading by example. She muscled her way through three challenges on the edge of the Korean penalty area, only for Hong Myong Hui to bravely deny the striker by diving at her feet.

The Americans lacked a cutting edge, however, with the North Koreans containing their opponents exceedingly well. A tense, gripping final ensued, with both teams seeking to gain the upper hand early in the second spell.

Vancil grabbed a back-header from Colohan as Jon Hyong Mwa looked to swoop on the ball, following a free-kick fired into the penalty area from half-way by Jon Hong Yon.

The American riposte featured a shot on the run by Kristie Mewis which rattled the hoardings, as three opponents trailed in her wake. The resulting goal-kick saw Hyon Un Hui whip in a cross from the left which Vancil grabbed under pressure from Jon Myong Hwa and Yun Hyon Hi.

Having grabbed the upper hand, the Koreans looked to make it count in the form of an equaliser. Jon Myong Hwa sent a twenty yarder fizzing past the diving Vancil's left-hand post in the 53rd minute, while five minutes later, Kim Uj, Jon Myong Hwa

and substitute Kim Un Ju combined to present Ho Un Byol with a shooting chance which fizzed over the crossbar.

On the hour, Hyon Un Hui played the ball down the left to Jon Hyong Mwa, whose deft flick released Kim Un Ju at pace. Her cross picked out Ho Un Byol arriving at the near post, but the midfielder shot tamely at Vancil.

After Kim Uj had unleashed another piledriver which flew past the post, a stumble by Amber Brooks let in Jon Myong Hwa, whose touch allowed Ho Un Byol to wriggle through three challenges before seeing her shot blocked to safety by Colohan in the 66th minute.

The USA hadn't been sighted as an attacking force for some time, but in the 69th minute, flexed their muscles in North Korea's half of the pitch via a neat move ignited by Brooks. Sam Mewis beat one opponent before threading the ball through for DiMartino, who somehow evaded four challenges in the Korean penalty area, only to shoot straight at Hong Myong Hui.

Three minutes later, the goal-a-game markswoman sent a shot fizzing over the crossbar after cutting in from the right, but in the 76th minute, the early lead the USA had been protecting was finally cancelled out.

Substitute Ri Un Ae unleashed a rocket of a thirty-five yard free-kick which cannoned off the crossbar and ricocheted off Vancil past her post. Kim Un Ju was able to hook the ball back into the goalmouth, where Kim Un Hyang rose high to send a header looping over the flailing figure of Vancil and into the net - 1-1, and a richly deserved equaliser, too.

The USA's goal was soon under siege again, as the Koreans sought a winner in normal time. Vancil grabbed a long-range Jon Hong Yon free-kick under her crossbar ten minutes from time, then looked on as Jon Myong Hwa sent a twenty-five yarder thundering past the post, after Kim Un Ju and Kim Un Hyang had combined on the right.

Back came the Americans, who laid siege to the North Korean goal in the final five minutes of normal time. Kristie Mewis was twice felled by her Asian opponents during this time, once just outside the penalty area and, in the 88th minute, near the penalty spot by Kim Sol Hui. On both occasions, Peruvian referee Silvia Reyes waved play-on, much to the USA's chagrin.

In stoppage time, Brooks pumped a free-kick into the penalty area which had Sam Mewis' name written all over it until Hong Myong Hui intervened. Her punch clear was swiftly followed by the sound of the final whistle, meaning a further half-hour of play would be necessary before the champions of the inaugural FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Finals would be known.

The USA were first to press their claims for a winner, with Hong Myong Hui smothering a Kristie Mewis free-kick low by her near post in the 92nd minute. Back came the Koreans, with Ho Un Byol unable to capitalise on a rare Rachel Quon error on the edge of her penalty area.

A vital interception by Jon Hong Yon prevented Kristie Mewis' through ball from reaching the in-full-flight figure of DiMartino in the 98th minute, and prompted a swift counter-attack which featured Ri Un Ae, Kim Un Ju and Hyon Un Hui, whose cross was headed wide by Jon Myong Hwa.

In the 101st minute, North Korean captain Pae Yon Hui worked a one-two with Hyon Un Hui before thrashing a shot into the side-netting. Seconds later, a lovely Korean move featuring Jon Myong Hwa, Kim Un Ju and Ho Un Byol culminated in Kim Un Hyang being denied by Dunn, who broke up more than her fair share of threatening Korean raids and regularly looked to ignite the USA's cause in like manner.

One of the more obscure features of the match saw the USA use just one substitute, Elizabeth Eddy, until half-time in extra-time, at which point Sam Johnson was introduced at DiMartino's expense.

She was quickly into the action, directing a stooping header past Hong Myong Hui's right-hand post on receipt of a Colohan throw-in flicked on by Sam Mewis. The last-mentioned sent a header bulleting over the bar in the 109th minute following a corner by her sister, Kristie, before the USA's best chance to win the match materialised three minutes later.

Verloo, who had taken a battering from the North Korean defenders and was visibly struggling to walk at times, dug deep into her reserves to chase a lost cause on the left. Her pursuit proved fruitful, and saw her play the ball inside to Johnson, who evaded the challenge of goalkeeper Hong Myong Hui before checking and curling a shot across the face of North Korea's goal from an obscure angle.

The resulting goal-kick sparked the move which won the World Cup. Six minutes after Vancil had smothered a Jon Myong Hwa effort after Ri Un Ae's delightfully weighted pass had allowed Kim Un Hyang to cross from the right, the North Koreans found themselves in a three-on-three situation with the USA's spreadeagled defence.

Substitute Jang Hyon Sun had joined the fray in the 104th minute, and she it was who surged down the left nine minutes later, with the tireless Ho Un Byol and Jon Myong Hwa in support.

She played a one-two with the former before darting inside the covering run of Brooks, then slamming an angled drive low past Vancil into the bottom right-hand corner of the net.

Like Kim Un Hyang had been when she scored the equaliser, Jang Hyon Sun was engulfed by her team-mates, who were just seven minutes away from recording a come-from-behind victory which would send them into history.

Cue the USA laying siege to the North Korean goal, but most of their efforts were of the desperate variety. The closest they came to snatching an equaliser was five minutes from time, when Sam Mewis sent a shot from the edge of the penalty area fizzing over the bar.

The North Koreans held onto their hard-earned but thoroughly deserved advantage, and when referee Perez sounded the final whistle, the champions of Asia were the champions of the world, and celebrated accordingly.

USA: Vancil; Quon, Colohan, Dunn; Brooks; S. Mewis, Roberts, K. Mewis, Klei (Eddy, 61); Verloo, DiMartino (Johnson, 106)

N. Korea: Hong Myong Hui; Kim Hyon Mi, Kim Sol Hui, Jon Hong Yon, Hyon Un Hui (booked, 117); Kim Un Hyang, Kim Uj (Ri Un Ae, 68), Ho Un Byol, Pae Yo Hui (Jang Hyong Sun, 104); Jon Myong Hwa, Yun Hyon Hi (Kim Un Ju, 53)

Referee: Silvia Reyes (Peru)

2008