Mo Marley, the England Women's U20 coach, said her side would learn from the disappointment of being eliminated at the World Cup in Germany.

Her side had to defeat Japan to stand any chance of going through to the quarter-finals, but were beaten 3-1.

It all proved irrelevant as Mexico and Nigeria drew 1-1, ensuring the Japanese also went out the tournament.

"We are disappoointed with the way we conceded the first goal but that's what these tournaments are about - young players learning from their errors and responding," said Marley.

"We have done well in Europe over the last couple of years but the World Cup is a big step up. Obviously we had to win and I think the pressure of that was reflected in the way we performed in the first 20 minutes."

Norio Sasaki, the Japan coach, said victory over England was a sign of how far his side have progressed.

"We have beaten England which is certainly a step forward in our development," he said.

"Looking at the group and how hard the other teams were, this tournament has been very important for the development of our players.

"As champions of Asia we wanted to go forward but hopefully North Korea and South Korea will defend the honour of our continent and go far."