Nanjing: With the number of AFC U-19 Women’s Championship contenders whittled down to two, Japan and DPR Korea are set to rekindle a rivalry that has included a number of major finals at both continental and world level.
DPR Korea’s defence has barely been tested thus far in Nanjing, having yet to concede a goal, but they are set for their biggest challenge yet in the form of Japan’s Riko Ueki.
The 18-year-old star has brought chaos upon every opponent she has faced in the tournament so far, with no one able to find a solution to her combination of pace, technique and football intelligence.
Now, with three superb performances under her belt, she wants to turn the tables on a generation of DPR Korea players she knows all too well.
“I played in the AFC U-16 Championship (in 2015) and the FIFA U-17 World Cup (in 2016) and I played against DPR Korea in the final two times, but we lost both games,” she said, having played every minute of both finals.
“So, of course, I’d like to win the game, and I’d like to participate in the U-20 World Cup as an Asian champion.”
With four goals, Ueki was Japan’s top scorer at Jordan 2016. She has scored twice more in this tournament, but much of her impact in the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship has come as a provider.
She has contributed six assists in her three matches, with Saori Takarada the player to benefit most, and the unselfish Ueki says she doesn’t mind who scores the goals, as long as they keep coming.
“The most important thing is to win the game,” she said. “I like scoring goals, but I can also assist other players and both of those things are very important to me.”
Japanese head coach Futoshi Ikeda has heavily rotated his squad for each match, resulting in all 23 members of the Young Nadeshiko seeing competitive action, and Ueki playing just 56 per cent of their total minutes so far.
Her two goals and six assists in 204 minutes, means she has been directly involved in a goal for every 25 minutes of game time – a figure that would be even more impressive if it took into account her pivotal role in Chen Qiaozhu’s semi-final own goal – but the humble Ueki is looking at the big picture.
“Of course I’d like to play a full game, but I think the priority is always that the team win. So I can understand the head coach’s decision to switch the team,” she said.
That decision has also allowed them to find more ways to goal than any other team, with a remarkable 10 different Japanese players finding the back of the net in four matches.
Also notable is the sheer weight of goals that have come after half time, with 17 of their 20 goals in Nanjing coming in the second half of matches, something Ueki puts down to her side’s consistent level of effort.
“Our starting point is hard work all the time,” she explained.
“In the second half we can see our opponents are starting to go down in terms of their condition, but we can continue to work hard for longer. That’s why so many goals are coming in the second half.”
Time will tell whether the same story will play out against a physically fit DPR Korea, but whatever happens in Saturday’s final, Ueki has left an exceptional impact on the tournament.
Riko Ueki’s 2017 AFC U-19 Women’s Championship
Opponents
Minutes Played
Goals
Assists
Result
Vietnam
58
1
3
JPN 9-0
Australia
79
0
3
JPN 5-1
Korea Rep.
Did not play
N/A
N/A
JPN 2-0
China PR
67
1
0
JPN 5-0
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com