The Colombian women’s team was patient in beating Australia: a better start at the U-20 Women’s World Cup

The hopes of the start gave way to anguish. The match was stuck. But after 59 minutes of waiting, Colombia finally opened the way to a key victory against Australia at El Campín, 2-0, to take advantage of the draw between their rivals in Group A, Cameroon and Mexico, and take the lead in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

It was not an easy debut for Colombia. Australia sat back, held on and closed spaces. Linda Caicedo, the team’s standard-bearer, was closely followed by her rivals. They did not let her breathe, she had to find a way to move in order to try, after that, to do damage. The rest of the team lacked that mobility to break free from a strong, sticky mark.

In fact, the most dangerous play of the first half was by the Australians, who almost went ahead due to a miscalculation by goalkeeper Luisa Agudelo, who was surprised by a shot from distance that forced her to take out her right hand to grab the ball.

The second half started very similarly to the first, with the Australians now entrenched in the north goal of El Campín, and with one Colombian missing, Karla Viancha due to injury, something that Paniagua covered with the entry of Maithe López, who would later be key in the match.

From a rebound on a corner kick came the goal that, in theory, gave Colombia peace of mind, In the 58th minute, defender Yunaira López recovered the ball in the middle of the area: she hit it hard, with her soul, and made El Campín explode. Finally, the team had an advantage that had been building for a long time. And Yunaira confirmed her past, since from her youth team, Formas Íntimas, she always showed strength to go looking for goals in the opposing area: already, in the women’s league, she has celebrations with Medellín and Nacional.

The scare with an Australian goal disallowed by the FVS

But that advantage was only theoretical. Australia gave the whole stadium a huge scare with a sequence of touches that ended with a one-on-one that forward Indiana dos Santos handled well against Luisa Agudelo in the 70th minute.

However, the new simplified video review system that FIFA is applying at this World Cup (FVS) saved the national team: each coach has two opportunities per game to request a review, but goals are analyzed ‘ex officio’.

On the screens, it was seen how, in the previous play, the Australian Petra Trimis stomped on Juana Ortegón. The central referee, the Croatian Ivana Martincic, announced the decision through the old speakers of El Campín and many people’s hearts returned to their bodies.

Linda Caicedo was still to receive her reward for her efforts, and in the 76th minute she finally scored her goal, bringing down a ball that Maithe López crossed from the right and crossing it to the other post. More than deserved, for Linda and for Colombia.

There were still many minutes left, because, as is becoming customary in FIFA tournaments, the extra time is very long: the board on the edge of the pitch showed that 13 more minutes had to be played.

With the lead on the scoreboard and the opponents tired, the team began to move the ball from side to side and in the last minutes, the public began to sing the ole. Calm had arrived. It was a difficult 59 minutes. Yunaira López unblocked the game and Linda Caicedo sealed the victory. Good start.

Jose Orlando Ascencio

Sports Deputy Editor

@josasc

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