Catalina Usme marks Alex Morgan in a corner kick in the Colombia vs. match. United States – credit Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
The quarterfinals of the women’s Gold Cup hosted an intense sporting confrontation between the United States and the Colombia Women’s National Team, where the American team secured a 3-0 victory against the Colombian team.
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The match, which took place at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, California, highlighted the efforts of player Linda Caicedo, a recent signing of Real Madrid Women, and underlined the talented play of the North Americans, current champions of the tournament.
During the match, the United States demonstrated its strategic and sporting superiority, scoring early in the 13th minute through a penalty taken by Lindsey Horan, and consolidating the score with two additional goals before concluding the first half. Despite dynamic play and opportunities created by Caicedo and Catalina Usme for the Colombian team, the team failed to convert the chances into goals.
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The match took place in the presence of approximately 15,000 spectators, where the majority supported the local team, although a significant presence of Colombian fans was noted. The match had a tense exchange between the historic scorer of the Colombian team, Catalina Usme, and the winner of the Ballon d’Or in 2022, Alex Morgan, after they scored the first goal of the American night against the Tricolor team.
The forward of the Colombian team had a tough encounter with the player of the United States team – credit
The misunderstanding arose during a corner kick against Colombia, where the Tricolor forward was in charge of the American captain’s mark. Usme was fierce in her mission, which made the San Diego Wave player uncomfortable, who confronted the Colombian and tried to intimidate her. However, the national scorer did not let herself be intimidated and responded rudely to Morgan’s grievances, so the intervention of her teammates and the central judge was necessary to resolve the conflict.
The first to show her face after the elimination was the Pachuca Femenino player from Mexico, Catalina Usme. The Tricolor captain, with tears in her eyes, thanked all the people who supported the Colombian team and asked her teammates to be aware of the mistakes they made to correct in the future.
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“We have to continue working. I love this team. We knew that we had a tough opponent and that we couldn’t make the mistakes we made. It is part of continuing to grow and continue maturing. I want to thank all the people who continue to believe in this team, despite all the failures, they have never failed to send us their good joy.”
Meanwhile, they focus on the next competitions they will face, the Olympic Games, a tournament to which they qualified after being runners-up in the Copa América 2022 and in which they have placed their hopes of bringing a medal to the country. Catalina assures that the entire team is focused on reaching the podium:
“Now we are going to raise our heads because a wonderful challenge is coming up: the Olympic Games and we are not going to give up to achieve the goal of being on that podium.”
The women’s soccer tournament in Paris 2024 would initially be directed by Ángelo Marsiglia, as reported by the Colombian Soccer Federation. However, this early elimination will be put on the table in the next executive committee, where the decision will be made to delay the process, inherited by Nelson Abadía, or, on the contrary, appoint a new coach to ensure success in the Olympic Games.