England ended Colombia’s odyssey at the Women’s World Cup with a 2-1 win to qualify for the semi-finals.
With their win in what was a very physical match, the English will face host Australia next Wednesday in Sydney.
Spain will face Sweden in Auckland on Tuesday in the other semi-final.
Lizzie Santos opened the scoring in the 44th minute and gave the coffee makers a nightmare when she fired a shot from the edge of the area past English goalkeeper Mary Earps.
England soon equalized through Lauren Hemp, who cleared the ball in the six-yard box after a mistake by goalkeeper Catalina Perez.
The “Lions” returned to 63 runs with a shot by Alessia Rousseau, who took advantage of a leaked ball between the Colombian defense.
Defensive lapses cost Colombia, the USA’s last representative at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand after the fall of giants Brazil, the United States and Canada.
The game, at Stadium Australia in Sydney, was packed with mostly Colombian supporters chanting “yes we can” to encourage them when they had already scored against the coffee makers.
At the start of the game, Colombia lost Carolina Arias, a bulwark in their defense, to injury and was replaced by youngster Ana Maria Guzmán.
/ AFP
– Hard game –
It was a warning of the brutality with which the two teams clashed with every ball, but that didn’t stop the magic of Linda Caicedo, who showed off some ballet steps amid the intense scrutiny the English defense subjected her to.
In the second half, goalkeeper Catalina Perez was injured and was replaced by Natalia Giraldo.
Lauren Hemp and Alessia Russo on offense and Millie Bright on defense seemed more suited to the “Lions” shock game.
But Colombia’s “Powerpuff Girls” joined the game, with Guzman positioning herself at right back, partnering attacker Maira Ramírez, while Lizzy Santos played her creative game.
England changed their attacking plan in the second half, betting on entering through the center instead of the wings as in the first half, which gave them some territorial control.
It was the Englishman’s goal that defined their victory and progressed to the semi-finals.
In the closing minutes of the game Colombia failed to find an equalizer on the scoreboard and beat England.
For the South Americans it marked the end of a dream run at the World Cup, in which they beat mighty Germany to earn their first quarter-final berth in their history.
AFP info
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