Japan defeat Venezuela, Spain overcome Italy as The u17 Women's World Cup Final Unfolds

"Finals here we come!" Spain celebrate

On April 4th the competition is coming to an end. The FIFA u17 Women's World Cup has provided us with some great entertainment and good football and it finally reaches it's climax as we get a vivid image of who will finally lift the trophy.The two semifinal games were played at the Estadio Edgardo Baltodano Briceño, Liberia meaning one game would take place before the other and the first game was between Venezuela and Japan.
The game was as I expected it to be, Japan dominating the possession and Venezuela tring to get hold of the ball, the 'little Nadeshiko' were on their way to the finals having scored 17 goals and conceded none all tournament long and I'm certain they were on course to make history getting to the Finals of a FIFA tournament without a goal conceded, I mean that has to be some record but part of me wondered if the tournament's top scorer Deyna Castellanos and her Venezuelan team could upset the odds.
The first goal came in the 13th minute, when Fuka Nagano unleashed a stunning low range effort from about 20/25 yards, goalkeeper Franyely Rodriguez got there but she wasn't early enough the ball had sailed in to give the Japanese the lead.
Twenty minutes after the first goal, Japan had a free kick driven low into the Venezuelan box, the defenders failed to deal with it and the ball fell to the mercy of their opponents, Nana Ichise was lurking at the near post and under no pressure tapped home to make it 2-0. Japan almost had a third after some remarkable football, Shiho Matsubara released a tricky shot but goalkeeper Rodriguez pulled off a fantastic save and with the help of the crossbar it stayed 2-0.
The second half started and 7 minutes later it seemed to be same story of the first, Japan put together a sequence of passes, the ball was driven in low from the right wing by Yui Hasegawa and Rikako Kobayashi finished superbly with just a touch.
Venezuela weren't having much of the ball and the few times they intercepted a Japanese pass they had to make the most of it, Daniuska Rodriguez spotted Mamiko Matsumoto off her line and tried to get the better of her from an outrageous position, Matsumoto quickly got back in time to tip the ball over the bar to save her from the embarrassment and a clean sheet intact.
But in the 63rd minute it was Japan again who struck, after putting together a few passes in the Venezuelan box, the ball fell to Hina Sugita who proved too skillful for Barbara Serrano, winning a penalty and cooly slotted home after being brought down in the box.
Japan were just seconds away from going the entire tournament without conceding into the finals but in the dead of the 90th minute Deyna Castellanos spoilt the party with a well headed effort that beat the Japanese goalkeeper, the only goal Japan had conceded in about 465 minutes of this tournament football, Castellanos with her 6th goal in her fifth game scoring in every one of them only it was a consolation for her team, the game ended 4-1.
Next it was Italy/Spain, the Italians came into this tournament as debutants and had made it as one of the final four. Suprisingly they were the ones pilling the pressure early on, Manuela Giugliano fired a pretty ferocious shot that the Spanish goalkeeper could only parry and then Martina Piemonte scored on the rebound, the Italian bench had started celebrating but the lines woman had her flag raised for offside.

Gloria Marinelli of Italy hit the bar from way out later on and Italy seemed to be in control of this game, but 3 minutes after the restart Spain had a free kick at the edge of the area the delivery struck an arm in the Italian wall, the referee blew for a penalty. The replay suggests that the defender's arms were close to her chest meaning she wasn't really obstructing the ball as if it had missed her arm it would her hit the chest, where would she put her arm then? But all that was not important as Sandra Hernandez converted for 1-0.

Italy wouldn't give up, Annamaria Serturini was the last penalty taker against Ghana to keep her side in the competition but her effort had the ball skimming the crossbar. However 9 minutes away for normal time Laura Dominguez seemed to have been fouled by Nicole Peressotti the referee blew for a penalty and Nahikari García had the coolest head on the pitch to slot the PK home.

Once again the replay would prove otherwise showing Nicole Peressotti had a fair challenge in, getting all of the ball and none of the player but that didn't matter anymore, Italy were defeated and Spain were through to the last round and like in the first game it was nice to see good sportsmanship as the Italians though disappointed, congratulated their opponents on their accomplishment. Italy had done well, they had gotten a third place playoff in their first ever appearance on this stage.

April 4th is the date for both the third place and the final, It would be interesting to see how that turns out, I feel the Japanese have a hand on the trophy already but it would be nice to see Spain pull off an upset, Venezuela/Italy is also a game to watch.

Sorry this took so long after the semis had been played ages ago.

Anyway thanks for viewing.

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Thank You.

- Sam.