Japan targets Olympic gold after beating North Korea

Japan women’s football coach Futoshi Ikeda targeted Olympic gold after his team qualified for the Paris Games with a hard-fought 2-1 win over North Korea in Wednesday’s playoff second leg in Tokyo.

The two sides drew 0-0 in Saturday’s first leg on neutral ground in Saudi Arabia, setting up a winnertakes-all showdown for one of the two Asian berths at the Games.

Hana Takahashi put 2012 London Olympics silver medalists Japan in front midway through the first half at Tokyo’s National Stadium, before Aoba Fujino doubled their lead in the second half.

Kim Hye-yong pulled one back with less than 10 minutes to go for North Korea, who were cheered on by several thousand red-clad fans who chanted and banged drums from long before kick-off until the final whistle.

The hosts held on to punch their ticket to Paris and Ikeda set his sights on a first-ever gold medal.

“There are only 12 teams in the Olympic tournament and we know they will all be strong sides,” he said. “We want to get ready for the competition and we are aiming to be the best in the world and win gold. We will try to improve and get stronger.”

Japan were eliminated in the quarterfinals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and also lost at the same stage at last year’s World Cup.

Ikeda said he has been trying to add more depth to Japan’s squad, who are ranked eighth in the world.

“When teams put us under strong pressure, we sometimes struggle to take the initiative and we need to get better at that,” he said.

North Korea were looking to qualify for the Olympics for a third time, and the first since 2012.

They returned to international football at last year’s Asian Games for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic and lost 4-1 to Japan in the final in Hangzhou.

Coach Ri Yu-il said he was disappointed not to qualify for the Olympics but praised both teams for putting on “a great game.”

He choked up with emotion when he was asked about the support of the North Korean fans.

“I am so sorry that we couldn’t get the result for all the fans who came to watch us,” he said.

AFP-Yonhap North Korean fans cheer during the final qualifier for the Paris Olympic women’s football at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Wednesday.

AP-Yonhap Japan’s Saki Kumagai, left, and North Korea’s Pak Sin-jong vie for the ball during the final qualifier for the Paris Olympic women’s football at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Wednesday.