Colombia won their first group game at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The next opponent of record European champions Germany defeated South Korea on Tuesday (07/25/2023) in Sydney 2-0 (2-0).
A day after Germany’s 6-0 gala against Morocco, the South Americans showed in the second half in particular that they have the potential to be a surprise team at the Oceania tournament. The finalists of the Copa America 2022 knew how to impress with fast and technically demanding football, after some patchwork remained in the first 45 minutes.
Nevertheless, it was already 2-0 at the break after goals from Catalina Usme (30th/penalty) and Linda Caicedo (39th). South Korea didn’t have much to add after the double blow. In the second half, the Asians disappointed across the board
South Korea with the better start
The Colombians initially seemed keen to defend their bad reputation from their last World Cup pre-season game against Ireland, which was abandoned because the South Americans were too tough. After just 30 seconds, Leicy Santos committed the first foul. And that in the completely irrelevant space near the center circle. However, the South Koreans were completely unimpressed by this overly motivated and superfluous entry.
From then on, the team of former Bundesliga coach Colin Bell was often more robust in duels and initially showed a more mature footballing system. After eight minutes, the Asians had already scored two goals.
Usme scores from the penalty spot – Keeper Yoon fails
In a very intense and fast-paced encounter by both sides, Colombia surprisingly took the lead because a shot by Manuela Vanegas in her own penalty area landed South Korea’s Seo-yeon Shim in the forearm. Referee Rebecca Welch (England) immediately pointed to the point. Usme converted the penalty safely. The South Koreans did not recover from this shock at first.
Up until shortly before the half-time whistle, the Bell-Elf almost didn’t play together. And then keeper Young-Geul Yoon made a serious mistake. The 35-year-old let an actually completely harmless central shot from Caicedo slip through her gloves – the 2-0 for Colombia.
Colombia coach Abadía has to watch from the stands
Coach Nelson Abadía took his side’s second goal calmly and at quite some distance from his players. Because the 67-year-old had to watch the game from the stands. After the coach had emotionally overshot the mark both at the 2015 World Cup – at that time as Colombia’s assistant coach – and in the final of the Copa America last year, the world governing body FIFA imposed a two-game ban on Abadía for the Oceania tournament.
He will therefore not be allowed to stand on the sidelines in the duel next Sunday (07/30/2023, 11:30 a.m. CEST) with Germany and will be represented there again by his assistant Angelo Marsiglia and his son Mario Abadía.
Perez prevents hits with a brilliant act
The duo, along with their gum-chewing and rather scowling boss in the game against South Korea, saw goalkeeper Catalina Perez scrape a Geum-min Lee header off the line with her fingertips seconds before the end of ten minutes of injury time in the first half. Thus, at half-time, the South Americans remained 2-0, which was quite fortunate in terms of the course of the game.
South Korea in the second half without a chance to score
After the change of sides, however, the Colombians were clearly the better team and deserved their lead. The “Las Cafeteras” initiated nice attacks and came to some conclusions. With a little more determination and precision, the next German opponent could have made the decision early. However, the South Koreans stayed in the game. However, it seemed as if the Bell-Elf had to pay tribute to their high pace from the first section. The Asians were often a step too late and were only sporadically able to act in a structured way when moving forward.
16-year-old Phair writes World Cup history
The Bell team didn’t have a chance to score in the second half, so the Colombian victory was well-deserved. But one South Korean footballer still had reason to be happy: Casey Phair. The US-born 16-year-old came on as a 78th-minute substitute and became the youngest player ever to appear at a World Cup.