2023-08-12 12:41:20
Women’s World Cup 2023
Australia’s happy story fell short of a cold and deadly England.
england vs colombia
Photo: David Gray/AFP
By:
Jenny Gámez A.
August 12, 2023, 07:39 a.m. m.
Losing is having the courage to expose your face, at the risk of seeing it blow up. This is how Colombia fell against England, in a painful but fair farewell to the 2023 Women’s World Cup, in which she learned to win and now she will have to learn to lose.
Two injuries, one slap after another, an illusion that died in two minutes, a dagger to the heart. That was the 2-1 defeat in the quarterfinals, which ended a dream but still made history. It will be a consolation for fools, but the public and its ‘Colombia, Colombia’ understood it that way in Sydney and surely also in the country. The risk of wanting to win, the pain of knowing how to lose.
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Women’s World Cup 2023
It was one of those nights predestined to sadness. The first scare was suffered by Colombia in the short rejection in the area that was left to Russo for a violent shot, luckily without a goal destination, but with a costly bill: the clash between Catalina Pérez and Carolina Arias ended in the injury of this Last, the one that opened space for guess who, Ana María Guzmán! Because the one they are going to give, they keep…
Just as it was feared, the ball, the initiative, the game belonged to the English while in the land of Pérez the order was clear: hold on! In fact, the first time that Colombia raised its head, it was running in the 14th minute and Linda, the one who raises the stadium to an ovation, shot a high shot. For the Colombian public it was not what, but who… with her it was love at first sight.
Firm Pérez under the three sticks responded to Daly’s header at 27 and a bit of luck helped him to make that next shot from outside go high. Then luck did not want her anymore. The problem is that until minute 42, Linda didn’t manage to smile even once and that was already a symptom: a synchronized British defense was waiting for her instead of chasing her and isolated her from her team without suffering her.
Then, the talent, the one who opens all the locks, appeared: Leicy Santos came from the band, took the ball, saw Earps outside and released a subtle and located shot, the one that Greenwood only saw in the repetition, to bathe her and provoke the delirium of the tribune. What a piece of goal!
And what hurt afterwards is not that it was because of the much-talked-about rival superiority but rather Pérez’s mistake -the infallible one-, only two minutes after Leicy’s party, which changed everything: a ball that seemed controlled, there was a succession of inaccuracies and out of nowhere Hemp appeared to hole it out and shout 1-1. Zero arc, mission not accomplished.
And it would get worse when, at 63, the weapon that the English knew would hurt us appeared: behind the backs of the central defenders, he passed the ball from Toone to Russo, he beat Arias first and then Jorelyn, and the latter shot Pérez. British comeback. Because, honestly, she deserved it. To finish off the chain of misfortunes, a blow to the eye ended up taking Pérez off the field and thus, at point blank range, Natalia Giraldo made her debut at the age of 20.
The first who accused the blow was Bedoya with the violent shot that Earps waved up. Yes you can, moaned the rostrum. Yes, but how? Linda was still out of the circuit, Usme burst scoring in the first half and exhausted himself, Leicy’s face denoted impotence, Lorena herself had to go from one side of the field to the other before the dark night of Ospina who saw the entire stadium but did not Abadía and Mayra suffered loneliness in an attack front without poison, without life.
Finally, at 77, the change Ospina begged for came and Chacón seemed to bring impetus from the bench that soon faded. Only Leicy remained and that heart that does not fit in her body, she fabricating arrivals, appearing on both sides, fighting, playing soccer. Two projections of his threatened but without disturbing Earps and the European champion got into his territory to wait.
They would have woken up there if it had been necessary. It was a matter of waiting and despairing the rival. This is how time and the dream of the semifinal in Australia went. The seventh match did not come, he died on the way, on the fifth step.
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#Colombias #dream #ended #game