It was not an easy moment in the game against Mexico. It was difficult for Colombia to reach the rival goal. Nevertheless, Juana Ortegon she brought out the fighting spirit that she has had since she was a child, she opened the field and began to solve the classification of the Under-17 team women to the second round of the World Cup.
Juana pushed, raised her head, finished off from outside the area and began to celebrate. And a whole country did it behind her, which is missing another important moment in women’s football in Colombia, Deportivo Cali’s passage to the second round of the Copa Libertadores, to help build the future of the National Team.
“We are happy. This triumph is for my family, for my dad, because of him I am here, for the whole country, now we are making history and it goes to all those who always support us (…) I am going to continue trying from a medium distance, I told him to my mom. It will not be the first goal”, Ortegón declared to Gol Caracol after the victory.
Juana goes for more
Juana has just turned 16, but she can already say that on her resume she has a subtitle in the local League and two World Cups on top: Carlos Paniagua had already called her up for the Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica, in which he was a substitute, and now he is a key player in the under-17s, who dream of beating Tanzania to reach an unprecedented semi-final in this category.
“We are warriors, brave, we are not afraid of anything, it is a great group. We ran like never before, we sweat like never before because we love football and represent our country. This is for the whole country,” insisted Ortegón.
However, not everything has been easy to fulfill his dream of being a footballer. Many remembered that, when Cali was losing the final against America in the League, coach John Albert Ortiz took it out before the end of the first half to reinforce the defense. Juana did not hide her frustration and she walked from side to side hitting the chairs of the substitute bench, crying. And that was not the worst obstacle she has had. There were worse, like when she was rejected for being a woman and playing soccer.
Colombian women’s team celebrates.
“When I was little, playing with men, you did see a lot. At school they called me tomboy, because she played with children. But now that there is more of a female level and they have seen that it can advance further, comments like this have not been seen, ”Ortegón declared in an interview with Fuchsia magazine.
Those who did not believe in her at the beginning now see her as the balance in the middle of the field of a National Team with a lot of personality, with the mistakes of a junior team, but which she sows to harvest in the future.
“It is complex, but there is always a mentality. There are downturns and that, but as I always say, you have to have a great mentality to move forward. Many times things do not come to you or there are obstacles, many things that can happen, and that is where the mentality plays a very important role, ”he added.
After a day of rest after a difficult and demanding first phase, Colombia resumes training today thinking of Tanzania, the next rival. And Juana, who has been doing the course to reach the big team, asked that the support for this team not decline for what is to come.
“That they continue to support, believing that women’s soccer can grow, we are doing it from the lower divisions, the sub-20 just had a very good World Cup, the seniors qualified for the World Cup, so continue to support and believe that Colombian soccer It’s going to break,” he said. They are on the right path.
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