Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Nigeria, France, North Korea, Canada, Japan, Ghana, Germany and Brazil qualified on Sunday for the quarter-finals of FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup being held in Azerbaijan.

Coaches of the teams that will vie in the quarterfinals have said they were satisfied with the organization of the World Cup.

Japan won all of its matches and scored the biggest number of goals in the tournament so far -- 17 goals, and missed none.

The head coach of the Japanese team, Hiroshi Yoshida, praised the conditions provided for the competing teams.

"Everything necessary has been done for the teams, and we have no problem. Facilitators do their best and all we have to do is play," Yoshida said.

Ghana coach Mas-Ud Dramani noted that the high-level organization has helped the team to qualify for the next stage in the championship.

Canadian coach Brian Rosenfeld said, "This is my third championship with the Canadian team. I'm very satisfied with all I see here. It is the best championship from the viewpoint of organization. It's is more pleasant to see the attendance and cordial mood of the fans."

The quarterfinals will be held this week. On Thursday, Nigeria will face France, while Japan will compete with Ghana. The other two matches (Korea-Canada, Germany-Brazil) will be played on Friday.

Final matches will take place in Baku on October 13.

Notwithstanding all the efforts, the Azerbaijani team did not proceed to the quarterfinals. Coach Sissy Raith is aware that much needs to be done.

"We didn't put all that work in for two years just to come away with three defeats so obviously. I'm not happy," she said to fifa.com.

Looking on the bright side, she added: "I've focused mainly on the team ethic and the concept of the group, and this has been a great experience for us. We worked very hard in preparing for this tournament and it is clear to see that there is still a lot more that needs to be done. But we've laid the foundations now and all we need to do now is keep going."

The U-17 Women's World Cup follows hot on the traces of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Japan 2012 and the Women's Olympic Football Tournament in London, and the first FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Eurasia.

Hosting grounds for the championship games are five stadiums in Baku -- Tofig Bahramov Republican stadium, Shafa stadium, Dalga Arena, 8th km stadium, Bail stadium and the central stadium in Lankaran, southern Azerbaijan.

Alongside women's football giants such as USA, Germany, Brazil and Japan, there are several newcomers as Gambia, China, Uruguay and hosts Azerbaijan, all making their tournament debuts.

The first U-17 Women's World Cup championship was held in New Zealand in 2008, while the second FIFA U-17 took place in Trinidad and Tobago in 2010.

Azerbaijan was chosen to host the third championship according to the FIFA Executive Committee's decision passed in March 2010.