Colombia produced one of the most dramatic Women’s World Cup upsets, scoring in the last minute to beat two-time world champion Germany 2-1 on Sunday.
The South American side looked to have been denied a famous win after Alexandra Popp equalized for Germany from the penalty spot in the 89th minute, canceling out 18-year-old sensation Linda Caicedo’s wonderful opener at the start of the second half.
But, in the dying seconds, Manuela Vanegas scored with a brilliant header from a corner to spark frenzied celebrations inside the Sydney Football Stadium.
With one round of fixtures left, Colombia is top of Group H with Germany in second, ahead of Morocco on goal difference.
The winning goal, which officially came in the 97th minute, secured Colombia its biggest win to date and inflicted on Germany its first World Cup group stage defeat since 1995.
The world No. 25 was very much the underdog heading into the game against a Germany side ranked 2nd in the world and considered one of the pre-tournament favorites.
But, as has often been the case as this year’s tournament, the lesser-fancied teams have performed far better than many had expected and Colombia stopped Germany from stamping its authority.
Manuela Vanegas celebrates after winning Colombia the game in the 97th minute.
Caicedo impresses again
Caicedo’s opening goal will also go down as one of the finest goals scored at the Women’s World Cup.
The teenager has been one of the breakthrough stars of this year’s tournament and again produced a spectacular moment on the biggest stage.
The Real Madrid youngster picked the ball up in Germany’s box before jinking past two defenders and rifling a shot into the corner of the net in the 52nd minute.
Caicedo had already made history by scoring in three separate World Cup tournaments this year – having shone at the under-17 and under-20 editions.
Her magical moment in Sunday’s match came after a worrying incident on Thursday where she appeared to collapse during a training session. Coach Nelson Abadia said on Saturday that the teenager was just “tired.”
“She was a bit stressed as well, because she was playing in her first World Cup … (which) has great relevance,” Abadia said, per Reuters.
“She’s 18 years of age. She’s a girl as far as football goes. But she has a great capacity and great character to assimilate all of this.”
There was no sign of that tiredness on Sunday as the youngster showed her class to inspire her side to a memorable win – she was also named Player of the Match.
CNN
