South Americans edge out Jamaica 1-0 in front of raucous Melbourne crowd to set up quarter-final clash with England; skipper Catalina Usme scores winner
Colombia’s Catalina Usme celebrates scoring against Jamaica in Melbourne yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Nelson Abadia said his Colombia team were “playing for all the Americas” after a 1-0 win over Jamaica on Tuesday set up a Women’s World Cup quarter-final clash with European champions England.
Colombia failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup but topped their group in Australia, stunning Germany along the way and are now into the last eight for the first time.
ADVERTISEMENT
Nelson Abadia
In front of a raucous crowd in Melbourne, the 25th-ranked South Americans ground down a resolute and physical Jamaica side who had not conceded a goal all tournament. Colombia’s intense, attacking ethos under Abadia finally paid dividends in the 51st minute when captain Catalina Usme got the breakthrough with a composed finish inside the box to unlock a previously impenetrable defence.
It set a cagey game alight and sent the pumping pro-Colombian crowd into deafening delirium. Colombia will now play England in Sydney on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals. “Our defence was brilliant, they have been evolving over the games, and of course, we also had brilliant attackers,” said the coach Abadia. “We analysed how this game would be and thank God we had a good performance.”
Also Read: US lose to Sweden 5-4 on penalties, make earliest Women's World Cup exit ever
With all other teams from North and South America now out, Abadia added: “There is immense pride. Home pride and a regional pride because we know we are worthy representatives of not just Colombia, but South America. Now we are playing for all of the Americas because our national team is representing the whole continent.”
In front of riotous fans who booed whenever Jamaica touched the ball, both sides pressed early in a stop-start opening that saw several players go down under heavy challenges.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
