Colombia rewrites its history by unstitching Germany | Women’s Soccer World Cup 2023

2023-07-30 23:51:50

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For a second, the Sydney Football Stadium went dark. There was no trace of the relentless revelry or the joyous chants, it even seemed that the bright colors of the stands were blurred. Yellow, red and blue faded to gray as the 40,499 throats that packed the field lost their hue. It was as if the parents had just arrived by surprise at the party the boy had thrown at home. Alexandra Popp, the leader of Germany, had just tied 1-1 and there was barely a minute left in regulation time. But the silence did not last long, as the tricolor fans recovered their voice and spirit, their singing and joy, as did the Super Powerful team, who found Manuela on the last play of the game, in a corner kick. Vanegas so that his shot would shout to heaven and to the world that Colombia is rewriting its history in this World Cup.

1

Merle Frohms, Svenja Huth, Sara Doorsoun, Kathrin Hendrich, Chantal Hagel, Lena Oberdorf, Lina Magull, Klara Bühl, Sara Däbritz, Jule Brand and Alexandra Popp

2

Catalina Pérez, Manuela Vanegas, Daniela Árias, Jorelyn Carabalí, Carolina Arias, Lady Andrade, Daniela Montoya, Linda Caicedo, Lorena Bedoya, Catalina Usme and Mayra Ramírez

Goals 0-1 min. 52: Linda Caicedo. 1-1 min. 89: Alexandra Popp. 1-2 min. 96: Manuela Vanegas.

Referee Melissa Borjas

Yellow cards Lena Oberdorf (min. 56), Lorena Bedoya (min. 61), Diana Ospina (min. 79) and Catalina Pérez (min. 87)

The triumph of the coffee makers expresses the health of women’s football in the country, driven by coach Nelson Abadía, who since he took over as coach in 2017 has made an effort to combine ideas, concepts, tactics and forms with the teams in the lower categories. trying to give the team its own style, a recognizable DNA. That watchword goes through trying to play the ball from behind to later electrify football in the opposite field, vertical passes to connect with their star forwards, the incombustible Catalina Usme and the effervescent Linda Caicedo, from now on a Real Madrid player because she waited with patience until she turned 18 to bring her to the league. And, without the ball at its feet, Colombia, physical and guerrilla, is more of the old school, the one that says that the player or the ball passes but not both. A formula, in any case, that resembles that of Coca-Cola in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand because it defeated South Korea (2-0) on the first day and repeated its success against Germany (2-1).

More than success, what Colombia has achieved is a feat, the first South American team to beat Germany in a World Cup, since it had four wins and a draw since it debuted in the section with the 2007 World Cup laurel, then capable of defeat Brazil in the final. “Germany is a power, a reality, but Colombia has been growing…”, agreed Vargas, a Real Sociedad footballer, at the end of the match, also happy because he changed Popp’s shirt. He is not without reason, since the Tricolor won the gold medal at the 2019 Pan American Games and reached the final of the Copa América the previous year to set foot in this World Cup. But he lacked significant victories, since since 2009 he had only defeated two European rivals: Wales in 2009 (3-1); and France in the 2015 World Cup (2-0), so far the match in capital letters that helped them reach the round of 16. Precisely, a border that the Colombian team is already touching, which will have to be measured on Thursday with Morocco in the last match of the group stage.

“History is written by you. Pride is for the country”, defined the Colombian historical goalscorer Radamel Falcao. So whatever happens, no one will take this feat away from them anymore, that initial goal by Linda Caicedo -who already scored a target against Korea to become the youngest goalscorer in coffee history-, that regret of a Germany that added 20 games undefeated -16 wins and four draws- in the group stage. “It is a great disappointment to lose the game due to a set piece. In general, we lacked a bit of courage in front of the goal, the final pass”, agreed Popp, who closed; “Although it was quite fun playing in front of a crowd like that, it felt like we were playing on the road.” And the chants were heard again in Sydney as red, blue and yellow rose through the skies.