The Under-17 team She has already managed to overcome the first phase of the Women’s World Cup in the category and wants much more. On Saturday, very early (6 am, Colombian time), she will seek an unprecedented passage to the semifinals of the tournament, against a team that is quite unknown, Tanzania.
The team led by Carlos Paniagua He has based his great performance on players who, despite still being of pre-juvenile age, have a lot of experience and have played this year in all the categories of the National Team, from the under-17s to the seniors. On that list is Linda Caicedo, the best player in the Copa América and the undisputed starter in all three categories, or Gabriela Rodríguez, who was also in the Cup and the U20 World Cup.
However, the youngest player on the squad has also been instrumental in trying to achieve an unprecedented achievement in Colombian football: winning a world title. It is not an easy challenge, but if the team has something, it is conviction.
The youngest of the team is the starting goalkeeper, Louise Agudelo, who, however, can already say that she has minutes as a professional player. After helping Colombia qualify for this World Cup, she played seven games in the Cortuluá goal and became the youngest goalkeeper to play in the tournament: she was just 15 years and 7 days old. Although Cortuluá was not enough to get into the final stages, Luisa had outstanding moments and became the starter, above the other goalkeepers who already had more experience, such as Erika Montañez.
Despite his youth, Agudelo has stood out for his size (he is 1.73, a good height for women’s football), his agility under the three posts and also with his game with his feet, which has made Paniagua give all the confidence to be a starter in the World Cup in India.
Agudelo has only conceded two goals in three games for the National Team in the World Cup. He was already coming off an outstanding performance at the South American in Uruguay, in which, in seven games played, he only conceded two goals, one from Chile, in the group stage, and another against Brazil, on the last day of the tournament. And he had not yet turned 15: he did it three days after finishing that contest. He now hopes to maintain that performance against a demanding rival due to his size and physique, to fulfill his dream of reaching the semifinal of the tournament first.
The call to the World Cup in India is the prize for a career that began relatively recently. “I started at the Ballon d’Or school, which was next to my house, I trained from 4 to 6 and played against boys. I was like 9, 10 years old, “said Agudelo, in an interview released by the account of the Colombian Football Federation on YouTube.
Little by little, Luisa was showing conditions and began to gain space. “I was called up to the Valle team when I was 10 years old, she was like the fifth goalkeeper. From there I continued with Sportings Club de Cali, I was already there with girls, there I improved and I came to Cortuluá, to the professional team”, she added.
An injury almost ended the career of Luisa Agudelo
However, there was a moment in her career when the future seemed complicated: a medical problem took her out of football for a while and it was even thought that she would not be able to play football again.
“Everything I did in the club, in the national team, so many falls, so many blows… but I remember that time I got injured and thought I was not going to continue in football: I had a bone contusion, I lasted a year and a half without playing. At that time the pandemic came, so I didn’t miss much either, ”he declared.
Agudelo is one of the bets for the future of the arch of the senior team, along with Natalia Giraldo, the starter of the U-20, and still has rope for one more process in the U-17.
With the same confidence that she shows in the Colombia goal, despite her young age, Luisa speaks with enormous maturity for a 15-year-old girl. “We are going with the certainty that we are going for that World Cup, we are going to be champions with the help of God, we are going to go step by step, always with a smile on our face, doing everything in the best way,” she said.
SPORTS
More sports news
#Luisa #Agudelo #youngest #U17 #team #safest