Colombia strike late to upset Germany 2-1 in Sydney stunner
Manuela Vanegas headed a stoppage-time winner to give Colombia a 2-1 upset victory over Germany just when the twice world champions thought they had saved a point in a thrilling Women’s World Cup clash on Sunday.
The defender powered the ball home from a corner eight minutes after German striker Alexandra Popp had converted a penalty to cancel out a stunning strike from Colombian teenager Linda Caicedo at Sydney Football Stadium.
Caicedo, who gave her team a fright by collapsing in training on Thursday, had delighted the massed ranks of her compatriots in the 40,499 crowd with a goal of the highest quality in the 52nd minute.
“Obviously, you need to be happy and euphoric because this is a great win for the whole country and we’ve been feeling this,” said Colombia assistant coach Angelo Marsiglia.
“But look, the game and the tournament still continues so we’ll go step by step. We have a very mature team and they know what they want.” The 27th-ranked Colombians now need only to avoid a heavy defeat to Morocco in their final Group H match to reach the last 16, while Germany are still likely to progress if they beat South Korea in their last fixture.
“It’s up to us,” said Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg. “It’s up to us how we play and it’s our job to do that. I’m really not worried that we won’t make it through.”
The Colombians tore into the match from the kickoff and the Germans looked rattled not only by their aggression but also by the deafening noise of their yellow-shirted fans.
Colombia striker Mayra Ramirez headed a chance down and wide in the ninth minute and the South Americans continued to niggle the Germans with a dig to the ribs here and a flailing arm in the tackle there.
The corner was Germany’s major
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