On Sunday, Colombia defeated Germany 2-1 in a nail-biting match thanks to a goal scored by Manuela Vanegas with a header in the 97th minute of play. With the win, Colombia moved closer to the round of 16 for the Women’s World Cup.
After keeping her cool and scoring a penalty kick with 89 minutes remaining in the match, Germany’s captain Alexandra Popp felt she had saved a point for her team.
Vanegas scored the game-winning goal with a close-range header deep into stoppage time, capping off an extraordinary climax to a tense match that had been plenty of action throughout.
It happened shortly after Linda Caicedo scored one of the goals of the tournament in front of 40,000 spectators in Sydney during the beginning of the second half, but it was only the beginning of the drama that unfolded after that.
As a result of their win, Colombia is now in first place in Group H with six points in total. Both Germany and Morocco have three, so everything is still up for grabs for them.
South Korea is still on the verge of being eliminated with 0 points.
In the last round of matches, Germany will play against the Koreans, while Colombia will play against Morocco.
At the rowdy crowd at the Sydney Football Stadium, the number of singing and dancing Colombian fans greatly surpassed the number of German supporters.
When Germany took possession of the ball, as they did rather often in the first half, the crowd responded with loud jeers and whistles.
Lina Magull took a swing, but she was unable to hit the ball as it beckoned to her from the top of the penalty box for Colombia.
After Magull had made life tough once again for the Colombian defense, the ball eventually came to striker Popp with the goal gaping just before halftime. Magull was a threat, and after he had done this, Popp was able to score.
The normally lethal attacker, though, sailed her volley high and wide, which provided a significant let-off for the South Americans.
Germany, who had previously won the title in 2003 and 2007, opened the second half looking like they had the better chance of scoring.
After having a fright on the training field on Thursday, when she fell down clutching her chest, Colombia gave the starting spot for the game to a teenager named Caicedo.
She added to her goal from the first game, a 2-0 victory against South Korea, with a shot of the finest quality when the game was 52 minutes old.
The attacker for Real Madrid dinked the ball inside, tricked the German defense with a body swerve, and bent the ball into the top corner of the goal superbly.
Lena Oberdorf took a corner kick that was given to her and sailed it just beyond of the goal post as Germany attempted to get an equalizer.
Before Vanegas’s late save, Colombia believed they had won the game, but goalkeeper Catalina Perez took down Oberdorf in the area, and Popp scored her penalty despite the whistles that were blowing. Vanegas’s save was the game-winner.
Earlier in the day, Morocco defeated South Korea in a Women’s World Cup match with a score of 1-0, marking the country’s first win in the tournament. South Korea was unable to register a single shot on goal throughout the encounter.