Colombia is in the quarter-finals of a World Cup for the first time. © APA/afp / WILLIAM WEST

Colombia bowls out the surprise team

In a rarely exhilarating World Cup round of 16, Colombia's footballers deservedly prevailed against Jamaica thanks to captain Catalina Usme. The Cafeteras will now face England in the quarter-finals.

August 08, 2023

From: dpa

Colombia's footballers have reached the quarter-finals of a World Cup for the first time. The Cafeteras won 1-0 against surprise team Jamaica on Tuesday in front of 27.706 fans in Melbourne. A goal from captain Catalina Usme in the 51st minute sealed the exit from the round of XNUMX for the hard-working Reggae Girlz. In the round of the last eight teams, Colombia will play against England in Sydney on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.

Only after the break did the fans see a football game that deserved the name. After a very disorganized first half marked by many fouls, Usme benefited from a positional error in the Jamaican defense to make it 1-0. Deneisha Blackwood had undercut Ana Guzman's cross, which meant the striker was able to finish completely free-standing.

Jamaica's best chance to equalize was missed straight away by Jody Brown, who headed the ball onto the post from one meter. Drew Spence missed another good header opportunity (82'). Coach Lorne Donaldson's team couldn't think of much more offensively.
For Colombia, who defeated Germany 2-1 in the preliminary round, top player Linda Caicedo hardly made any impact against the hard-defending Jamaicans. Instead, it was Leicy Santos who missed the preliminary decision in the 86th minute. Her diving header landed only on the post.