In yet another intriguing match in the ongoing Women’s FIFA World Cup, Team Colombia upset Germany courtesy of a fine opener by 18-year-old Linda Caicedo and then a winning header by Manuela Vanegas in stoppage time at the Sydney Football Stadium on Sunday. The loss turned out to be Germany’s first at the Women’s World Cup group stage since their 1995 group stage loss to Sweden.
Colombia won their opening match in the tournament against South Korea, defeating the Asian side 2-0. On the other hand, Germany had a booming start to their World Cup campaign, crushing Morocco with a 6-0 victory in the opening match.
Both teams headed into the match with the same points in the Group H table, but Germany having the edge on goal difference. However, the outcome of the match has allowed Colombia to take over the top spot with 6 points in their kitty, with Germany now at second place, ahead of Morocco on goal difference.
Germany dominated most of the game with about 70% of ball possession and 14 shots at the goal. However, it was Sweden who got the opening goal of the match in the 52nd minute when Real Madrid star Linda Caicedo set up her shot with just a few perfectly controlled touches, which soared into the back of the net to put Colombia in front.
Following the goal, Colombia led for most of the game, and Caicedo almost notched another goal for her team when a cross beelined right across the open net, but she couldn’t get a foot on it. A critical foul in the 89th minute owing to a rough tackle by Colombian goalkeeper Perez on Lena Oberdorf inside the box drew a critical penalty for the Germans that was converted by Alexandra Popp to bring the scores level.
Once the clock hit 90 minutes, the referee added eight minutes of stoppage time to the match, and both teams came out all guns to try and get the decisive goal.
It was ultimately Manuela Vanegas’ header in the 7th minute into stoppage time. The defender came up field on a corner kick in the final few seconds of the game to connect on a fine header into the nets, giving Colombia a shocking 2-1 lead just before the referee’s final whistle, putting her country on the brink of making it to the Top 16.
The Germans have never failed to advance from the group stage of the Women’s World Cup her loss has put their chances of making the knockouts in jeopardy as they will now have to beat South Korea by a healthy margin in their next game and have to hope that Colombia beat Morocco in their next. If both Germany and Morocco win their upcoming matches, their fate of sealing a spot in the Top 16 will be decided by goal difference.
