Andrés Usme and Catalina Usme not only share the surname of brothers, they also share a love for footballthat passion that one day settled in the family home and never left, it stayed to live there, under the same roof, as if it were another member of the household, and it grew, as if it were another Usme brother.
United by a passion
That being champions is good for the Usme, they did it with America in the 2019 Women’s League, and repeated on Sunday by winning the final against Deportivo Cali. He from the technical line; her on the field. The older brother as a guide for a project; her, the younger sister, as the star of that project. He, with his knowledge, teaching how to get to victory; she making that victory real, with her goals, with her talent. This is how the Usme are, Antioquians born in Marinilla, born for soccer, born to win.
“Andrés and I have not only had a family bond. Through football we have created a synchronicity from a very young age. He has been present throughout my career, from a very young age he has been my guide. The story of Andrés and mine goes from a lifetime, ”said Catalina in an interview that she gave to the Conmebol media, in 2021.
Andrés Usme is 37 years old and has dedicated his life to preparing to teach football. Catalina’s brother ventured into women’s soccer in the Medellín youth team, then led the Formas Intimas team in the 2016 Copa Libertadores, then that last name that was already a soccer fan for his sister began to sound strongly from the technical direction.
Already in 2017 Andrés was in América de Cali, he arrived with a mission: to develop women’s football in the scarlet club. Create a project, make it solid, win a title, the one he won in 2019, and then win another, the one he won last Sunday, and now, with those two crowns, he looks longingly at the Copa Libertadores, which is his next obsession. and for that he has his sister, the one who translates what he teaches on the field, and the one who ultimately pushed him to this adventure of women’s soccer.
“We understand each other more professionally than as brothers. Naturally, as in any family, we have our differences, but on a professional level we have always understood each other. That’s where my love for women’s soccer is born, from seeing their talent, “Andres said in that same note with Conmebol.
On Sunday, Andrés experienced one of the most emotional moments of his career, because he could not believe that the stadium was so full, so alive, and all because his players were fighting for a title. Andrés brought out the best of himself, all his knowledge so that Catalina and the others could make this new dream come true.
“I have a happiness that you cannot imagine. Today women’s soccer won, beyond the fact that America, thank God, achieved its second star, that today with our people we were able to shout champions, I think that the one that won was women’s soccer in general, “said Andrés.
Catalina, the soul of America
Catalina is 32 years old and has a star career. She is a figure in the Colombian National Team and a symbol of this America. Catalina is a contagious player, because she is able to lift the spirits of her teammates with her firm voice, which sometimes sounds encouraging and sometimes scolding, although it is not scolding. Her voice is like that, strong, sonorous, and that’s how she makes herself felt, she makes herself heard.
Catalina forged a character of steel since she was a child, she did it to open up a field in soccer, from when she was a girl and played with children, including her brother Andrés and her other brother Diego, at that time she would already get angry if she lost, if they took away the ball, and at that time, when he was 6 or 7 years old, he told his family that he had made a decision that it was not a game, and that it was not innocence, it was conviction: “I want to be a footballer”, and thus he took on the challenge of to play seriously, to be professional, to go to the Colombian National Team, to win titles.
Today Catalina is crack, and she is one of those who fulfills what she sets out to do. Before starting this championship she said in the privacy of the dressing room: “we are going to be champions and I am going to score 15 goals”. She complied. His words have the accuracy of his free throws.
In Sunday’s final, Catalina scored two goals, as if to ratify that it was her final. The second she did was a penalty, and that doesn’t detract from her merits; she stood in front of the ball with the serenity of the best, and defined with category. He led a squad that despite losing in the first leg, was not going to let this title drop, they had him tied up in their minds and feet.
“No one knows how much we had to suffer. This is God’s team, because he was with us always, we were never alone; the triumph is for God and for the families”, said Catalina on Sunday, radiant, happy for the duty accomplished. She finished as the top scorer in the championship and as a great figure in this League. In addition, she surpassed the barrier of 50 goals, reaching 55 annotations, to consolidate herself as the historical scorer of the championship.
Catalina and Andrés fulfilled what they promised, but this is not the end. Now Catalina says, with the force of her voice, that America is going for the Copa Libertadores, the one they will play this year, that they want to win it after losing the final last year, and that is the same dream as her brother, and if she He says it like that, with that conviction that those who score a penalty for the title have, because Andrés has to be believed.
PAUL ROMERO
Editor of THE TIME
@PabloRomeroET
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