North Korea struck twice in stoppage time to defeat Canada 2-0 and advance to the semi-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Poland on Sunday.
The defending champions were made to work hard by a resilient Canadian side before Choe Rim Jong finally broke the deadlock in the second minute of added time with Ho Kyong sealing the win two minutes later.
Han Chol Hak’s side have proved an irresistible force at tournament and, while the scoreline in Lodz might suggest otherwise, this was a match in which they might have racked up double figures with a little more efficiency in attack.
The pattern of one-way attacking traffic was established from the outset, and only an excellent Noelle Henning save prevented Choe Rim Jong giving the Han’s side a deserved eighth-minute lead with a goal-bound left-foot shot.
A minute later, captain Pak Ok I sprung the offside trap only to slice wastefully wide with the goal at her mercy, while Rim Jong struck the base of the post after driving in from the right wing.
Rim Jong was again in the heart of the action in the second half, firing in a shot from the edge of the box that Henning did superbly to tip on to the crossbar.
The defending champions must have been wondering at this stage if luck was deserting them entirely, and those concerns would have increased when Jong Pok Yong glanced home an intelligent back-header with 13 minutes remaining only for a VAR review to highlight the intervention of an offside teammate.
However, undeterred by her earlier misses, Rim Jong stepped forward in the second minute of stoppage time to rifle an unstoppable left-foot effort into the roof of the net. Substitute Ho Kyong then raced through late on to seal the most deserved of victories with almost the last kick of the game.
The three-time winners will face Colombia in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
