Yesica Munoz She was on the bench, waiting patiently, or impatiently, counting the minutes left, finally coach Paniagua sent her onto the field, in a very tough match against Cameroon, and in one of her first appearances she spread her wings, flew, held on, looked down on the field from above, and scored a lethal header so that all of Colombia could celebrate the 1-0, the victory and qualification for the round of 16 in the U-20 Women’s World Cup.
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Colombia knew what it was going to face, that it was going to face a tough, physical, very athletic, very strong team, but also a team that hit hard. The first skirmishes were violent clashes. Linda, Gabriela, Yunaira, Maithe… They all suffered the fury of Africa. They had to fight and be patient.
Colombia was uncomfortable, it couldn’t find a way to enter those walls. The hope was that the Africans would get tired, but the minutes passed and nothing changed. It was as if Cameroon was breathing its own air, as if the altitude didn’t affect them.
In the 27th minute, the game finally turned from fury to excitement when Cameroon accelerated, Daha launched a long ball and goalkeeper Agudelo took a spectacular flight to close her goal. Then it was Eto, Cameroon’s star player, who came close with a header. These were tense minutes in Bogotá. What’s going on? the fans shouted. And where is Linda? the voice from the stands demanded. The fans were getting impatient.
Colombia finally reacted in the 40th minute. Gabriela Rodríguez tried a weak shot. El Campín came to life and Linda responded, here I am, she shouted without shouting and pulled out one of her tricks, she gained speed, and launched a shot that scraped the goal to prevent the goal that was already being chanted in the stands.
In the second half, Colombia wanted to be another Colombia. A header from Karla Torres was already a warning for the Cameroonians, who softened them up with a violent foul in the next play. Cameroon was a constant terror. The biggest scare for Colombia came from a possible handball in the area by Cabezas, but the referee, after reviewing the monitor, decided that it was not a penalty. Phew.
The game didn’t change, it seemed like the 0-0 would not be broken. That’s when Yésica Muñoz came on, it was the 62nd minute. There was still time. She knew it, but she wasn’t going to waste a second. She was inspired. Linda forged a corner kick, it was her goal but it didn’t happen, then the ball came over the top, landing right where Yésica was waiting, illuminated, to jump and score the goal that would give her relief, that would give her peace of mind, that would give her qualification.
Yésica was the heroine, she could have scored two more goals, she was close, she was the different player, she made the African defense lose control. Linda did her thing, she almost celebrated at the end with a great shot. But Colombia also appreciates the save by goalkeeper Agudelo, who quickly dove in and prevented the equalizer. Colombia, with its stars, won again and takes another step in the World Cup.
PAUL ROMERO
Sports Editor
@PabloRomeroET
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