Colombia's fairytale story and World Cup dream remains alive after edging Jamaica
Facing Jamaica at a Women's World Cup finals for the first time, Colombia were marginally on top in the early stages and had the first sighter on goal, following a scrappy opening quarter-hour.
Diana Ospina burst forward from her midfield berth to fire, in all truth, a tame effort at Rebecca Spencer.
On the back of becoming the second-ever nation to qualify for the knockout stages of a Women's World Cup after scoring only one goal throughout the group stage, Jamaica were unsurprisingly forced to play second fiddle to their goal-hungry opponents after failing to register any threat for Colombian goalkeeper Catalina Perez to contend with in a frustrating first-half display for the Reggae Girlz.
Determined to make their attacking dominance count, Colombia needed only six minutes of the second half to accomplish that.
Leading by example from the front, Las Chicas captain Catalina Usme sent the Colombian supporters within the stadium into euphoric celebrations, by exquisitely pulling Ana María Guzman’s cross from out of the air, before firing a perfectly-struck strike into the far corner past Spencer.
Not allowing their heads to drop, Jamaica were fighting back and came within inches of equalising immediately from the restart, however, striker Jody Brown could only turn away in disappointment as her close-range header rebounded back off the post with Perez beaten.
Wanting to avoid the prospect of extra-time, Colombia pushed for a second goal that would end the tie but similarly to Brown, they were left to rue the positioning of the woodwork, as Leicy Santos’ header struck the post.
However, Santos’ miss would not have any impact with time running out for Jamaica to find a late equaliser as Colombia remained in control to set up a mouthwatering last eight clash against 2022 Euro winners England on Saturday.
Meanwhile, despite exiting the tournament at their maiden knockout appearance, Jamaica will surely depart the Southern Hemisphere with fond memories of their time down under in Australia and New Zealand.
Flashscore Player of the Match: Catalina Usme (Colombia)
