A familiar foe, a familiar result.
The U.S. women lost to North Korea 1-0 in the semifinals of the Under-17 World Cup on Wednesday night. It’s the deepest the Americans have gone in the tournament since 2008, when they lost to … you guessed it, North Korea in the final.
The U.S. women are now 0-1-3 against North Korea in the U-17 tournament. The Under-20 team also lost to North Korea at its World Cup last month.
The Americans still have a chance to bring home some hardware. They’ll play either England or two-time defending champion Spain, which beat the Americans in the group stage, in the third-place game on Sunday.
North Korea, meanwhile, will be seeking its third U-17 title.
The two teams matched each other defensively in the first half, but North Korea gradually wore the U.S. women down. In the 69th minute, Ro Un-hyang one-timed a botched clearance by Daya King into the net. It was the first goal conceded by the U.S. since the opening game of the group stage.
The Americans were lucky North Korea didn’t add another in stoppage time, with a lot of activity in front of the U.S. goal in the final three minutes.
The U.S. women’s best chance at a goal — its only chance, really, as they finished with zero shots on target — came in the 41st, when Micayla Johnson sent a shot over the crossbar.
USA TODAY Sports provided updates, highlights and analysis throughout the U-17 Women’s World Cup semifinal:
The U.S. women got no help from VAR in the second half.
Captain Kennedy Fuller went down in the box in the 82nd after a collision with Ri Ye-gyong. No whistle was called, so U.S. coach Katie Schoefper challenged it. But unlike in the first half, when the USWNT had a penalty call on Katie Scott reversed, VAR did not go its way and there was no penalty on the play.
The U.S. women have made more substitutions as they chase a game-tying goal.
Melanie Barcenas, who has three goals in this tournament, was replaced in the 77th minute by Jaiden Rodriguez. Kimmi Ascanio, who scored in the quarterfinal against Nigeria, also came out, replaced by Y-Lan Nguyen.
North Korea took advantage of a U.S. mistake and now it has the lead.
Ro Un-Hyang scored in the 69th minute, one-timing a botched clearance into the net. The goal was the first allowed by the U.S. women since the group stage opener against Spain, and it preserved North Korea’s streak of never trailing in this tournament.
The teams had been fairly evenly matched until the goal. But Daya King, who had come on 10 minutes earlier, cleared a ball back into traffic. It took a bounce and Ro was right there to deliver a laser strike for the go-ahead goal.
The U.S. has made its first substitutions, with Daya King and Maddie Padelski coming on in the 59th minute. They replaced Katie Scott and Micayla Johnson, respectively.
Jocelyn Travers was shown a yellow card in the 47th minute, the first in the game. But it didn’t cost the U.S. women, as they cleared out the ensuing free kick.
Well, what did you expect from two of the best defensive teams in the U-17 World Cup?
The U.S. women and North Korea are scoreless at the half of a very evenly matched semifinal game. North Korea had one more shot (five) than the Americans, but chances were hard to come by for both teams because of the other’s stingy defense.
The USWNT’s best chance came in the 41st, when Kimmi Ascanio fed Micayla Johnson deep in the box. Johnson juked a North Korean defender and, once clear, took a shot that sailed over the crossbar.
North Korea had two chances right after, skying one shot and putting another into the side of the net.
The Americans did catch a break in the fifth minute of the game, when a penalty on Katie Scott was reversed by VAR.
If the rest of the tournament is any indication, goals won’t be easy to come by for the U.S. women.
North Korea has given up just one goal in this tournament, back in the group stage opener against Mexico. It hasn’t trailed, either, that goal coming when North Korea was already up 3-0.
The one goal allowed is the best of the 16 teams in the tournament.
VAR came through for the U.S. women in the first key moment of the semifinal.
An early penalty on Katie Scott was reversed, denying North Korea a chance for an early goal.
Scott, who is back in the starting lineup after coming off the bench against Nigeria, was whistled for a penalty on Choe Il-son in the fifth minute of the game. The referee said Scott clipped Choe as she was going for the ball just outside the 6-yard box.
But the U.S. appealed – Scott immediately signaled for the bench to challenge the penalty – and it was overturned after a review by the video assistant referee.
The game begins at 7 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on FS1 and Telemundo.
It’s a youth World Cup, so that means it must be North Korea.
This will be the ninth time the U.S. women have played North Korea in an Under-17 or U-20 World Cup. They’ve played them three times previously at the U-17 World Cup, including the 2008 final, when North Korea beat a team that included Crystal Dunn and Sam and Kristie Mewis to win the inaugural tournament.
And just last month, the USWNT lost to North Korea in the semifinals of the U-20 World Cup. North Korea went on to win that tournament while the U.S. women beat the Netherlands for the bronze medal.
U.S. coach Katie Schoefper is going back to a familiar lineup.
Katie Scott and Micayla Johnson are in the starting lineup for Wednesday night’s semifinal against North Korea after coming off the bench in the quarterfinal. Both Scott and Johnson had started the final two group games for the Americans.
The rest of the lineup remains unchanged:
Goalkeeper: Evan O’Steen
Defenders: Katie Scott, Trinity Armstrong, Kiara Gilmore, Jocelyn Travers
Midfielders: Ainsley McCammon, Kennedy Fuller (captain), Kimmi Ascanio, Melanie Barcenas
Forwards: Micayla Johnson, Mary Long
The U-17 World Cup is for players born on Jan. 1, 2007, or later, so it’s mostly high schoolers or players who are early in their college careers. But in a sign of the game’s development, this U.S. squad contains professional players for the first time. There are four, all midfielders: Kennedy Fuller of Angel City; Melanie Barcenas and Kimmi Ascanio of the San Diego Wave; and Ainsley McCammon of the Seattle Reign.
All four have been fixtures in the starting lineup, and Fuller and Barcenas lead the team with three goals each.
Fun fact: Barcenas is wearing No. 13 for the U.S., the same jersey made famous by former Wave teammate Alex Morgan. When Barcenas texted Morgan a photo of herself in her new jersey, Morgan posted it on Instagram with the caption, “Will need 1 Adult Medium and 2 Kids Smalls.”
No. Its best finish came in 2008, the first time the tournament was held. The Americans reached the final where they lost to North Korea, 2-1, in extra time.
The Americans opened group play with a loss to Spain, the two-time defending champions in the U-17 World Cup. But they rebounded with wins over Colombia and South Korea, advancing to the knockout rounds as the runner-up in the group.
Kennedy Fuller had a goal and an assist in the USWNT’s 2-0 win over Nigeria in the quarterfinals. It was the third consecutive clean sheet for the Americans, a first for them at the U-17 World Cup.
The Dominican Republic.
U.S.-North Korea is in Santiago de los Caballeros while the other semifinal, between two-time defending champion Spain and England, is in Santo Domingo. Both the final and the third-place game will be played Nov. 3 in Santo Domingo.
Goalkeepers (3): Wicki Dunlap (North Carolina Courage Academy), Evan O’Steen (Solar SC), Molly Vapensky (Carolina Ascent),
Defenders (6): Trinity Armstrong (UNC), Kiara Gilmore (FC Dallas), Jordyn Hardeman (Solar SC), Daya King (Legends FC), Katie Scott (Penn State), Jocelyn Travers (FC Bay Area Surf)
Midfielders (7): Scottie Antonucci (Legends FC), Kimmi Ascanio (San Diego Wave), Melanie Barcenas (San Diego Wave), Kennedy Fuller (Angel City FC), Ainsley McCammon (Seattle Reign), Jaiden Rodriguez (San Diego Surf), Y-Lan Nguyen (Virginia Development Academy)
Forwards (5): Anna Babcock (Crossfire Premier SC), Micayla Johnson (Michigan Hawks), Mary Long (Duke), Maddie Padelski (Alabama), Leena Powell (Tudela FC)
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