After a breathtaking slate of quarter-final action that saw wonder goals, last-minute comebacks, extra-time winners and shootout heroics, the semi-finals at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024™ have a lot to live up to.
First up, it’s a clash between 2008 finalists and 2016 semi-finalists as the fable-weavers from USA meet a metronomic Korea DPR side.
That’s followed by a meeting between an ultra-consistent Japan outfit and a Netherlands team who are the only member of the last four who are yet to win the tournament.
USA v Korea DPR
Estadio Pascual Guerrero, Cali
Wednesday 18 September | 16:30 (local time)
Having pulled off one of the most dramatic comebacks in the tournament’s history to down Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals on Sunday, it’s hard to imagine what USA can do for an encore here.
The downside is that both of their knockout matches have gone to extra-time, whereas Korea DPR strolled through theirs. The upside is that, unlike their Asian foes, they haven’t had to move venues and remain based in the southwestern city of Cali.
Japan v Netherlands
Estadio Pascual Guerrero, Cali
Wednesday 18 September | 20:00 (local time)
Finalists at each of the past two editions, Japan have been one of the most impressive teams at Colombia 2024, conceding the joint-fewest goals (2) and scoring the third highest tally (16).
It’s been more of a wild ride for a Netherlands side that have scored nine and conceded eight and who have also been involved in extra-time duels in both of their knockout-stage matches.
The positive is that they will welcome back midfielder Ilse Kemper from suspension, although some form of rotation could be possible from both coaches as they battle the short turnaround and the taxing Cali conditions.
What they said….
“We need to stay true to how we want to play, to our style. They [Korea DPR] are an incredible side but we also know that we have a lot of great characteristics and attributes, so we’ll stay calm and composed and give them a real run for their money.”
Savy King, USA defender
“We are going to do our best [against USA]. They are a very strong team and showed it in their qualifying tournament but we also have [our strength] which is good teamwork and organisation.”
Ri Song-ho, Korea DPR coach
“Beating Spain [in the quarter-final] was not the final objective; winning the title is our goal. We can happy that we defeated Spain but now we need to focus on the next match [against the Netherlands].”
Manaka Matsukubo, Japan midfielder
“We are one team, we are together, we need to rest but we are ready, ready for this stage. I know we’ve been inspiring [young girls] back home. We’ve already fought in this stadium in Cali and showed what we can do here.”
Robine Lacroix, Netherlands midfielder
