North Korea new women's U-17 football world champs
21 Nov 2008
The FIFA under-17 Women's World Cup has wound up in New Zealand with a nail biting final between North Korea and favourites the United States.
The game went into extra time but North Korea took the world title beating the United States 2-1.
It was a nightmare start for the Koreans when a bizarre own goal from goalkeeper Hong Myong Hui opened the US account after barely two minutes. The US team's lead endured until the 77th minute when Kim Un Hyang equalized for North Korea and forced the final into extra time.
Unbeaten record
The first period was scoreless and the Koreans were running into a strong wind in the second when Jang Hyon Sun struck the winner, preserving North Korea's unbeaten record through six matches at the tournament.
North Korea's win was its first ever women's world cup title at under-17 level and adds to the under-20 title it won two years ago.
North Korea finished the world tournament with 12 goals, conceding five, while the United States scored 13 goals and conceded 10.
German victory
In the playoff for third, European champions Germany were comfortable 3-0 victors over England.
The tournament was a resounding success with spectators enthusing at the high standard of play. Matches were played in a number of centres throughout New Zealand and games were beamed live to a TV audience of more than 125 million.
World competition
The FIFA Women's World Cup is recognised as the most important international competition in women's football and is played every four years. The first tournament was held in 1991, 61 years after the men's first FIFA World Cup tournament in 1930.
Teams from Canada, Germany, Denmark, Colombia, Costa Rica, North Korea, Ghana, Japan, United States, France, Paraguay, Brazil, England, South Korea and Nigeria were in New Zealand for the tournament.
Women's football is one of New Zealand's fastest growing sports and of the country's 100,000 or more junior players, one third are girls.
Internationally, girls represent 10 percent of junior numbers.
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