Domani si gioca a Ho Chi Minh City la "finale" del torneo femminile asiatico under-19.
Nonostante sia la penultima giornata, Giappone e Corea si giocano la possibilità della vittoria del titolo finale.
Nel caso di vittoria coreana la coppa sarà assegnata con un turno di anticipo. Nel caso di vittoria giapponese basterebbe alle nipponiche gestire con un successo la pratica Vietnam, squadra cuscinetto del torneo, all'ultima giornata. Solo il pareggio lascerebbe aperti i giochi con la Corea che avrebbe la necessità di conquistare la vittoria contro la Cina, salvo una vittoria con meno di 4 reti di scarto del Giappone contro le vietnamiti.
Il Giappone è campione in carica del torneo.
La RPDC è già matematicamente qualificata al Mondiale under-20 che si giocherà in Uzbekistan tra il 18 agosto e il 9 settembre del prossimo anno.
'It's down to this' says Sin
Ho Chi Minh City: DPR Korea coach Sin Ui-gun feels his side's clash with Japan at Thanh Long Sports Centre on Thursday will decide the destination of the AFC U-19 Women's Championship.
DPR Korea have proved the pick of the bunch so far in Ho Chi Minh City, collecting three wins in their opening three games to top the table on nine points.
After coming from behind to defeat southern neighbours Korea Republic 2-1 in their opening game, they edged out Australia 1-0 before sweeping aside hosts Vietnam 5-0 on Monday at Thong Nhat Stadium.
That result sealed the Koreans' place in next year's U-20 World Cup in Uzbekistan but worryingly for their final two opponents, Sin feels there is still much more to come from his side.
Victory over Japan on Thursday will see them wrest the title from their East Asian rivals while any other result will mean the trophy's destination will come down to Sunday's final round of games, where DPR Korea face China and Japan take on Vietnam.
Asked whether he thought the encounter against the Japanese was effectively a title-decider, Sin replied: "Yes, most probably."
Japan, meanwhile, lie second having so far collected seven points from their three games to date as they followed up an opening 1-1 draw against China with successive victories over Korea Republic and Australia.
Boss Hiroshi Yoshida knows his side's unbeaten record is very much on the line against DPR Korea but feels they have the potential to inflict a first defeat of the tournament on their opponents.
"I think it will be a very difficult match because they play very well, their passing is very nice but I think we have a chance to win," he said.
With Japan almost certain of joining DPR Korea in Uzbekistan next year, Yoshida also conceded he was more concerned with developing his squad and giving everyone a chance to experience the pressure of an international tournament than focus on retaining their crown.
"Rather than defend our title, I would rather use players that I could not use in the previous three matches," he added.
"Rather than win the title, I place emphasis on improving the players so I would like to try new players because we can see the work that we have done so far. So I would like to try more players."