“The Women’s World Cup”: Japan’s leader wants to return the cup to her country... and Nigeria’s leader is challenging

Honoka Yotsumoto, captain of the Japanese national football team, confirmed that her team is looking forward to winning the U-17 Women's World Cup title when it faces Nigeria on Sunday in the final match of the tournament currently being held in Morocco.

Yotsumoto said in statements to the official website of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on Saturday: “We carry the hopes and feelings of the players who came before us, and we want to honor them by returning the cup to Japan.”

Japan is competing in the final for the first time in ten years, after it succeeded in surpassing the quarter-finals for the first time in its last three participations, then ousted North Korea from the semi-finals on penalties, avenging its loss to the same team in the Asian qualifiers.

Sadayoshi Shirai, the coach of the Japanese national team, said that winning the World Cup has been the team's goal since its formation, adding that the players benefited from the experiences of the past two editions, in which their career ended in the quarter-finals.

Japan did not suffer any defeat during its journey in the tournament, and only conceded two goals, while goalkeeper Ko Kadowaki played a decisive role in qualifying for the final, after she saved one of the penalty kicks against North Korea.

Japan is waiting for a different confrontation against Nigeria, which has become the first African team to reach the final of the tournament, after the Japanese women had previously faced three African teams during their journey in the current edition.

For her part, the captain of the Nigerian football team, Harmony Chidi, confirmed that winning the title would constitute an exceptional achievement that she, her teammates, and her country will never forget.

Chidi said, in statements to the official website of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) on Saturday: “It will be a wonderful thing and a source of happiness, and will not be forgotten for the rest of my life.” Reaching the final is a great achievement, and it is a dream we had, and winning the title will be something that I, my country, my colleagues, the technical staff, and everyone around us can be proud of.”

Nigeria aspires to become the first African country to win the title, after reaching the final for the first time in its history, following a wonderful journey that saw it defeat defending champion North Korea 3-1 in the group stage, then achieve five consecutive victories after losing its opening match to Poland 1-2.

Akim Busari, the coach of the Nigerian national team, said that his team was inspired by the victory over North Korea, but he stressed that facing Japan will be different, adding: “The character, mentality and spirit with which you play every match is what makes the difference.”

The Leeds United team thwarted the awakening of its guest, Tottenham Hotspur, and defeated it with an unanswered goal, on Saturday, in the tenth round of the English Premier League.

Noah Okafor scored the only goal for the hosts in the 79th minute.

The goal came after a long throw-in and a headed pass from Dominic Calvert-Lewin to Okafor, who dribbled inside the penalty area before shooting into the net.

With this goal, Leeds United translated its advantage in the match after 16 attack attempts, including 3 shots at Tottenham goalkeeper Antonin Kinski.

As for the London team, it made only three attempts at its opponent’s goal throughout the match, the most dangerous of which was a header from Jan-Paul van Hecke after a cross from Andrew Robertson, which was saved by Leeds goalkeeper James Trafford, depriving Tottenham of a draw in a deadly stoppage time.

With this result, Leeds United achieved its third victory in the competition and its first in the last 6 rounds, after two losses and 3 draws in the past five rounds, raising its score to 14 points, and rising to eighth place.

On the other hand, this loss broke a series of 3 consecutive victories for Tottenham, leaving its score frozen at 12 points in tenth place, after suffering its fourth loss in the league.

Leeds United achieved its first victory since the landslide victory over Newcastle United, 4-1, after a very exciting scenario.

The home team snatched victory with Okafor's goal just 97 seconds after he came on as a substitute for his teammate Lucas Nemesha, rewarding German Daniel Farke, the coach of the Leeds team.

This scenario dashed Tottenham's hopes of achieving a fourth successive victory, after they were unable to achieve any victory in the first 6 rounds of the league championship this season.

In addition to Noah Okafor's goal, the Tottenham players and their Italian coach Roberto De Cerpi strongly objected to Leeds United player Jayden Bogle not being sent off after his violent intervention on Matthias Till in the 34th minute.

The video assistant referee, VAR, intervened and indicated that Bogle did not deserve to be sent off after he was late in reaching the ball, and the nails of his shoe collided with Till’s ankle, which was in severe pain.

Frenchman Thiel tried to continue playing, but was forced to leave the field, to be replaced by Dominic Solanke in the 43rd minute.

After the international break, Leeds United will face a difficult confrontation in the next round when they visit Chelsea on November 21, and on the same day, Tottenham will face an easier test in theory when they host Ipswich Town.

The French Tennis Federation announced on Saturday that just one month after Gael Monfils retired, the former player joined the national team as its captain.

Monfils, formerly ranked sixth in the world, officially retired last month after his exit in the second round of the US Open last September, thus putting an end to a professional career that lasted 22 years, which saw him twice reaching the semi-finals of one of the four major tournaments.

But Monfils is set to sit out when France begins its Davis Cup qualifiers next February, having taken over as team captain from Paul-Henri Mathieu, who led France to the quarter-finals last year.

“I am very proud to take over the leadership of the French team,” Monfils said in a statement. This blue shirt means a lot to me.”

The 40-year-old player represented France in eight editions of the Davis Cup, winning 12 of 15 singles matches. He played one of his best matches in the 2014 final, where he defeated Roger Federer in two straight sets, despite France losing the match to Switzerland.

Monfils was not part of the team when France won its tenth Davis Cup title in 2017, but he expressed his desire to add more titles to the trophy cabinet as captain of the team, a role that does not require participation in matches.

He added: “I want to build a real project based on teamwork, and create the momentum that will enable us to win titles together.”