Venezuela, Spain reach semifinals of U-17 Women’s World Cup

AMMAN — Deyna Castellanos struck twice on Wednesday as Venezuela came from behind to beat Mexico 2-1 in the quarter-finals of the 2016 U-17 Women’s World Cup in Amman.

Jazmin Enrigue started off the scoring for Mexico, but it was Castellanos two goals at the Amman International Stadium which took her to joint top of the Jordan 2016 scoring charts and ensured that her team reached the last four of the World Cup for the second successive edition.

Venezuela set up a semifinal meeting with either North Korea or Ghana.

In Wednesday’s other match, Germany fell to Spain as the Spaniards poured on the pressure and won with an easy 2-1, setting up a semifinal meeting with either Japan or England.

On Thursday, North Korea take on Ghana at 4pm at Al Hassan International Stadium in Irbid, while it will be Japan versus England in the night match at 7pm.

The final and the 3rd and 4th place match will be played on October 21.

Jordan was eliminated from the first round losing 5-0 to New Zealand, 4-1 to Mexico and 6-0 to Spain. Sarah Abu Sabbah made history by scoring Jordan’s only goal in the Kingdom’s inaugural appearance in the U-17 World Cup.

Jordan joined New Zealand, Brazil, the United States, Paraguay, Nigeria, Cameroon, Canada exiting the first round.

The biggest sporting event to be hosted in the Kingdom also marked the first time that a women’s tournament of this scale has been hosted in the Middle East region. It was Jordan’s first appearance at the U-17 Women’s World Cup and also its first appearance at any level at a FIFA World Cup.