Italy's under-20 women's team beat the Republic of Korea 3-1 in the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup on Saturday. The match at the World Cup stage produced a result that put the Italians through while sending their hosts home. Italy finished top of their group with seven points from three games, while Korea sat second on four.
K. Appiah opened the scoring in the sixteenth minute with a well-taken effort. Korea responded through Lee Hae-Un just before half-time, and the game looked balanced. And here's the thing — the Koreans came out with purpose after the break, but Italy had already set their tempo.
Appiah doubled her tally in the forty-eighth minute, catching the home side on the turn. P. Fadda added a third in the sixty-third minute, and Italy had pulled away. The visitors made changes at sixty-one minutes, bringing on G. Pellegrino and M. Tosello, while Korea shuffled their back line shortly after.
By then Italy were in control of the quarter-final. The hosts made several substitutions in the second half — Jin Hye-Rin and Lee Hae-Un came off together in the sixty-sixth minute, while Jeon Si-Woo entered in the eighty-second. Italy brought on A. Gallo and P. Fadda in the eightieth minute to see out the game.
The result means Italy advance to the semi-finals, while Korea's campaign ends. The Koreans had beaten Argentina 1-0 in their previous match but lost 3-1 to Ghana earlier in the tournament. Italy, meanwhile, drew with China and Japan before beating New Zealand 3-0 and the United States 2-1 in their opening games.
