Fair? Yes. But still strange. I do wonder if the Italians even practiced PKs during their training as the PKs were so bad. As far as the other thread goes I have to pick one as, at my age, dividing attention between two is hard for me and I like "easy" right now.
Maybe the U-20 World Cup quarter final between USA and Germany last year? Germany scored 2:0 at 90+2 and then USA scored at 90+8 and 90+9. USA won on penalties.
Probably what I was remembering. I wish that somehow my old memory could be augmented. The Italy vs Mexico is going to PKs. I wish they played extra time in youth matches. Pks are just so unsatisfying and, in a lot of ways, unfair. I do not see any way for Italy to win this but each PK is new so anything can and often does happen.
Italy just can't take PKs well, but Mexico seems MUCH better. It ain't over but it looks unlikely that Mexico will miss. As I thought Italy has no PK ability and Mexico advances 5-4 on PKs.
I should be more careful with potential acronyms: I of course meant sob in the sense of sigh and sigh in the sense of sniff.
Of the four semifinalists, three come from Group B: Korea DPR, the Netherlands, and Mexico. (Poor Cameroon). I think we already know who will win...
QF BRAZIL 0 - 0 (pso. 5-4) CANADA (att: 519) KOREA DPR 5 - 1 JAPAN W-s. Kim 1' 73', U-g. Ri 6' 90'+6, J-h. Yu 22' --- Nakamura 8' (att: 461) FRANCE 2 - 2 (pso. 6-7) NETHERLANDS Adedeini 34', Laboucarie 90'+2 --- Dap 90'+3, Derks 90'+8 (att: 179) MEXICO 0 - 0 (pso. 5-4) ITALY (att: 203) Top Scorers 6 Won-sim Kim (DPK) 6 Jong-hyang Yu (DPK) 5 Noa Fukushima (JPN) 5 Giulia Galli (ITA) SF BRAZIL - KOREA DPR NETHERLANDS - MEXICO
The Canadians were close... Japan as far as they never been before, France was in France... but as usual not at the end, while the Italians were the architects of their own undoing.
Korea DPR defeated Brazl by 2-0, but in fact in didn't look like such a lopsided match until, at the end of the 1st Half, Brazil conceded a PK and a Red Card because one of their DFs saved a shot that was directed to the goal with her hand. I anyway guess it was most on their keeper, who spilled the ball thrice (!) in that same action (and at least in one case it wasn't a so difficult save to justfy it ). Of course there was no come back for Brazil: North Koreans already look like they're more than 11 on the pitch in normal conditions; go figure how much they can dominate an opponent who's one player down! It's a shame: I would have liked to see how the game would have ended without that unfortunate ejection.
I wish there was an effective "punishment" between a yellow card and a red card. It seems that, in soccer, we jump from "Slap on the wrist" (yellow card) to the most extreme punishment (red card) with nothing in between. It is a lot like having our justice system go from a $100.00 fine to lethal injection with jail time never even entering into the equation. Although that might actually work for our justice system it really does not work for football. But if some change is made it needs to be done so that there is no extra delay in match play. Maybe, instead of a red, they could require the player to wear 5 pound ankle weights on each foot for "denial of an obvious goal scoring chance" for the rest of the match and, if they are subbed the sub must also wear the weights as a red carded player cannot be subbed. I know that's probably a bad idea but so is the way VAR is handled. Just because something is a bad idea does not prevent the powers that be from implementing it.
Remember this is a youth football tournament. You know, meant to develop future stars in football, not volleyball. Andreyna tried to play as BRA's last defender with arms stretched out, behind her goalkeeper: both arms out once her goalkeeper was beaten. If that is not a red card, then we are in trouble teaching future generations what football is all about. North Korea will face Netherlands in the championship match. Their latest match was 5-0 win for North Korea, during MD3 in group phase.
SF BRAZIL 0 - 2 KOREA DPR J-h. Yu 44'(p.) 52' RC: Andreyna 43' (BRA) (att: 148) NETHERLANDS 1 - 0 MEXICO Touzani 69' (att: 362) Top Scorers 8 Jong-hyang Yu (DPK) 6 Won-sim Kim (DPK) 5 Noa Fukushima (JPN) 5 Giulia Galli (ITA) 8th November - FINAL KOREA DPR - NETHERLANDS 3rd place match BRAZIL - MEXICO
Mexico beats Brazil in penalty shootout 3-1 (1-1 in FT and ET) to get the bronze medal. Mexico had very well coached team in this tourney. Left winger Ospina, goalkeeper Murrieta and pair of central mids and defs caught an eye. Final starts in 1 hour (free on FIFA+) KOREA DPR vs. NETHERLANDS
Watching women's soccer/football since 1999 makes me wonder how North Korea became this dominant. I know that North Korea has won the U-17 Women's World Cup and the U-17 Women's Asian Cup multiple times before, but back in 1999, I never predicted North Korea to become this good. I remember North Korea's 1999 adult team to be physically strong, but with bad teamwork.
Yes, they're good at youth level but lack of exposure to international football later on makes them stop developing. Tomorrow Naegohyang takes on Tokyo Verdy in AFC Women's Champions League so we will be able to get some look on how strong North Korean club football really is... (assuming that's not Korea DPR WNT... just in club shirts ) Judging only by N. Korean youth scene and all that talent accumulated across past decade, they should beat Tokyo Verdy with ease by four or five goals and in general be the front runners for AWCL title in Asia. However, if they struggle against Japan (and later South Korean team), lose, draw, or even win by a single goal, it will mean that their football development has essentially stalled at the U20 level.
FINAL KOREA DPR 3 - 0 NETHERLANDS W-s. Kim 14', R-y. Pak 18', U-g. Ri 42' (att: 5 954) 3rd place match BRAZIL 1 - 1 (pso.1-3) MEXICO Kaylane 78' --- Evelin 90'+6(og.) (att: 648) Golden Ball: Jong-hyang Yu (DPK) Silver Ball: Won-sim Kim (DPK) Bronze Ball: Rosalie Renfrum (NED) Golden Glove: Valentina Murrieta (MEX) Golden Boot: 8 goals, Jong-hyang Yu (DPK) Silver Boot: 7 goals, Won-sim Kim (DPK) Bronze Boot: 5 goals Giulia Galli (ITA) Fair Play Award: Spain
Good consolation prize for the young Italian talent. Does anyone know if there was an actual trophy for second and third scorers too or if it was just a nominal title?
This result further highlights the distorted results achieved by North Korea in youth teams, where the development of players is not as important as the final victory. I counted four national team players in the Naegohyang ranks (according to team sheets) and at least as many who previously played in youth teams. This raises the question of whether Korean players suddenly plateau in their development after the U20 level, or whether their results in youth teams are due not only to grueling training but also to magic juices and fake birth dates.
That certainly is a mystery. It would've been nice if North Korea played in the 2023 Women's World Cup so that we could see how well they play, but North Korea withdrew from the qualification process because of the global pandemic. North Korea did the same with the qualification process for the 2022 Men's World Cup. I wanted to see the two Koreas play in South Korea after they tied in North Korea. North Korea was very rough against South Korea in North Korea's home game.