25/10/2022
FIFA U-17 WWC: JAPAN V/S SPAIN: Quarter Finals
FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2022 campaign of Japan concluded due to a 2-1 defeat to Spain in the quarter-finals on Saturday.
Momoko Tanikawa looked to have sealed Japan a semi-final spot only for the East Asian side to be stopped by a late Vicky Lopez brace as Spain kept their title defence on track.
Japan, the 2014 champions, entered the tie at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on the back of three wins in the group stage and not having conceded a goal but found themselves under pressure from the start.
Spain, who qualified as the Group C runners-up, dominated as they attacked in waves.
Japan, however, were defensively resilient as the first half ended goalless.
It was more of the same in the second half with Spain pressing for the opening goal but the Europeans instead found themselves trailing to Tanikawa's scorching effort in the 66th minute.
The European side refused to give up but had to wait till the 87th minute to draw levels through Lopez.
Just when it seemed that the match was headed for an additional 30 minutes, Lopez struck in the third minute of added time to seal Spain a semi-final meeting against Germany.
The semi-finals will be played on Wednesday.
- Report courtesy: the-af/Nationals
