Colombia beat Jamaica 1-0 on Tuesday thanks to a goal from Catalina Usme in the second half. This put the South Americans in their first Women’s World Cup quarterfinal.
The captain’s goal in the 51st minute sent Colombian fans at a full Melbourne Rectangular Stadium into a frenzy and made sure that Colombia will play England for a spot in the last four.
Before Usme scored, the game had been tense and physical, but after he scored, both teams started charging like crazy.
Jamaica’s “Reggae Girlz” had chances to tie the game, but they went out with a bang. This was their second World Cup, but it was the first time they made it to the knockout round.
Jamaica, which hadn’t given up a goal all tournament, shut down the Colombians early by tackling them hard and leaving them on the ground.
Colombia’s rising star On the left side, Linda Caicedo was kept quiet, and it took a corner kick in the 38th minute for the South Americans to get their first good chance to score.
But Jorelyn Carabali’s wild shot from the edge of the area went over the bar, so it was a loss.
Referee Kate Jacewicz got tired of how rough the Jamaicans were, so she gave defender Chantelle Swaby and midfielder Drew Spence two yellow cards in five minutes right before break.
After halftime, Colombia’s new girl Ana Maria Guzman broke the game open. The 18-year-old right back sent a long cross to Usme, who was open on the right.
Usme got the ball past Jamaican defender Deneisha Blackwood and put it in the far post with a low left-footed shot.
Three minutes later, Jamaica had a great chance to tie when Blackwood’s corner found Jody Brown right in front of the goal, but the midfielder’s header hit the bottom of the left post.
As regular time ran out, Jamaica tried to move forward as hard as they could.
In the 82nd minute, Drew Spence rose to meet a cross from Tiffany Cameron, but her goal went just wide of the left post. This let Colombia keep their lead until the end.