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Group A: North Korea eye title again

Group A is considered one of the dicey, as it has former champions, North Korea, Canada, (who are eager to win for the first time), as well as Ghana and Finland eager to impress.

Even though on paper, the North Koreans look the favourite, Group A could be anybody’s to advance into the quarter-finals, provided things work according to plan for each one of them.

Canada

It has always been the hope of organisers that the host nation of a tournament will progress in the competition to sustain the fans’ interest, and this will be no different when Canada U-20 WWC gets underway.

Even though Canada, part of the North American Confederation, have qualified for all four previous U-20 WWCs, they have never won the tournament before, with their best appearance being the 2002 event, when they lost the final 0-1 to their continental rivals, USA, painfully at home.

This will be the second time they will be hosting this tournament, and as they did in 2002, they hope to go all the way to the final.

Exempted from the qualifiers, the Canadians have prepared for this competition with a series of training camps and friendly matches against Norway and Denmark.

Winning this tournament will be good news for the hosts, but first, they must navigate through a dicey Group A which has Finland, Ghana and North Korea.

Compared to the United States, Canada in women’s football, are not considered a powerhouse, though, they have produced a number of quality players such as Christine Sinclair.

However, currently there is no standout star, but some of them are hoping to shine when they take to the pitch on home soil.

Coach Andrew Olivieri himself is aware of this challenge and insists his team will take it a game at a time instead of raising their hopes high.

“The Canadian football culture has changed significantly since 2002 — and in a good way. Back in 2002, this tournament wasn’t really on the radar until it got underway and the Canadian team started to really impress. 

“It’s very different now. People are on board well in advance, and expectations have also risen significantly. The women’s team winning a bronze medal at the Olympics took the level of scrutiny and interest to another level, and we’re going to have to prepare the players to cope with that,” he told FIFA.com.

Their ambitious target is to go past the group stage to the quarter-finals and to achieve this, the national team coach, Rhian Wilkinson has been brought in to support the technical team.

Finland

Finland will be making their second appearance at the Under-20 Women’s World Cup after their debut in the 2006 event.

Despite embracing women’s football, Finland are not considered a powerhouse compared to Denmark and Sweden and were tagged the surprise team to qualify during the European qualifiers.

Qualifying for the eight-team European U-19 Women’s Championship was seen as success in itself as women's football had fallen. 

Few gave them any chance to excel in the Euro Championships, as they were drawn against powerhouses like Germany, Norway and Sweden. 

The Finns, though, defied expectations with a series of stunning performances in the group phase, drawing 1-1 against Sweden, beating Norway 1-0 and progressing to the semi-finals at the expense of their Nordic neighbours with a hard-earned point against the Germans. 

While England proved too strong in the last four, anyone underestimating this Finnish team in Canada could well be in for a rude awakening. 

They owe much of their success to the resilience and excellent performance by their goalkeeper, Vera Varis and with a not so impressive outing on their debut in 2006, Coach Marianne Miettinen is hoping that their second time will be more productive.

In 2006 in Russia, they scored only a goal and conceded 12, losing all three group matches against  China (1-2), Nigeria (0-8) and Canada (0-2) in group B.

In Canada, they want to relive their suprise moments as they did during the Euro Championships to send the signal that the game in Finland is on a revival mission.

North Korea

North Korea, often referred to as Korea Democratic People's Republic (DPR), are among the most successful nations in the history of the FIFA U-20 World Cup. 

Even though they missed out on the first two competitions in 2002 and 2004, they took Russia 2006 by storm, winning the title as debutants.

 They continued their dominant form at Chile 2008, going all the way through to the final where they lost to  the USA. 

They also progressed beyond the group phase in the last two World Cups, where they lost out to the eventual champions on both occasions. 

At Germany 2010, they were in the quarter-finals, beaten by the hosts, in the quarter-final clash, and two years ago in Japan they lost to the USA after extra time at the same stage. 

North Korea represent one of the dominant forces in women’s football in Asia, where they have won the Asia Football Confederation Under-19 Championship in 2007. 

Qualifying for Canada 2014 was not a daunting task as they reclaimed the AFC Championship with wins over Australia (6-2), China (1-0), and Myanmar (Burma, 2-0).

Coach Hwang Yong Bong's side were, however, beaten 1-2 unexpectedly. 

Despite the loss, they held Japan to a goalless draw with the precious point securing their place among the top three. 

This North Korean side are as ambitious as their predecessors and have the pace and focus on an attacking game.

Their fighting spirit is their edge over others and once eager to be crowned champions again, they will be at their fastest in their bid to first get out of the group stage.

With Ri Un Sim and strike partner Kim So Hyang, spearheading the attack and  Jon So Yon playing a key role in midfield, Hwang Bong's charges will be one of the sides to watch in Canada.

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