Key events
18 min Now it’s Usme at it, flying into Magull and – accidentally – catching her with a stray arm. Colombia are turning this into a scrap, and rancour – all the things that no one wants to see – looks enticingly imminent.
16 min Arias D nudges Popp off the ball, so there’s a break while she accepts treatment. We’ve not been shown a close-up of what happened, but my guess is a friendly elbow-caress to the midriff.
15 min “With the caveat that this will probably age badly,” exculpates Kári Tulinius, “I’ve been surprised by how flat Germany have been in the opening exchanges. After their explosive win over Morocco I expected more. I can’t tell if Colombia is doing something to unsettle them, or if they’ve just yet to wake up.”
They’re already improving, I think, but Colombia aren’t sitting off and have pace in behind, so building from the back against them is a problem.
14 min This could develop into the best match we’ve seen so far, I think. Germany are settling into their passing now, but Colombia are pressing and looking to get players forward quickly.
12 min “Morning greetings from California,” begins Mary Waltz, for whom it’s still last night. “I love the enthusiasm, the feathered head dresses, the youth and energy of Columbia. But won’t the Germans crush the Colombian side? So far Germany and Spain look so much stronger than rest of the field.”
It’s rare that the best side in the first round of tournament-matches is the side dancing about at the end of it, so I’d not want to draw too many conclusions from what we saw during it. Both sides you mention could be champions, but both could easily lose to various of the others in a one-off match.
10 min First flash of Germany, Buhl sticking the ball behind Arias C, powering past and slinging over a terrific cross that eludes everyone. Germany, though, sustain the attack, Huth then crossing from the right, but with no one attacking the six-yard box, Perez dives to collect.
8 min …and her delivery is superb too, hit flat and fast to Ramirez at the back post … who heads down and wide! That’s the first half-chance of the match, and we’re warming up nicely here.
8 min Andrade again turns up on the right, feeding a pass in behind for Ramirez, who wins a corner. Usme will swerve in with her left foot…
7 min Colombia have started nicely here, confidently looking to get about Germany at every opportunity.
5 min Germany stop Colombia playing out from the goakick, so Perez goes long and the ball finds its way out to Andrade, down the right. She chucks a lollipop at Hagel and flies by on the outside, but the defender comes back at her really well, timing her slide to perfection – not with the aim of winning the ball, but to force her opponent to take another stride, which takes her behind. Smart work.
4 min Germany hit Popp, who spins Vanegas and accepts the inevitable foul; now it’s Germany’s go to stick a ball into the box, but Buhl’s delivery is over-excited and the ball flies behind.
3 min For those unfamiliar with Colombia’s astronomy-themed away kit…
2 min Early chance for Colombia to exert pressure, sticking a free-kick into the box, but Hendrich is up high and early to head clear.
1 min Morocco beating South Korea means Germany qualify with a win; Colombia will still need something when they meat the North Africans in their final match.
1 min Away we go!
There’s a Hebrew word, kavanah, that means intensity, focus and intention – generally with regard to prayer. The Colombians could not be attacking their album with greater kavanah, and it’s beautiful to see.
Anthem time…
And here they come!
Our players are tunnelled, and it’s almost time…
Get yourselves in the mood with some favourite Colombian tunes:
Also for you:
However, Caicedo fainted in training a few days ago and, having recovered from ovarian cancer not that long ago, people were understandably worried. But reports assure us she’s fine, which is great news.
ITV are showing us VT of Caicedo, who looks every inch a footballer: lithe, but with phenomenal power in her legs. I can’t wait to see how she does against this opposition.
Smart-cas latest: oh, Jonas. Oh, mate.
Looking at the Germany side, it’s absolute levels in midfield and attack. So, though Colombia might well plan to defend deep and slow the game down, they’ll want to get the ball forward, and quickly, with Caicedo dropping off, running off Usme, and darting in behind. If they work it well, Doorsun and Hendrich will have a few problems.
Leisurewear latest:
So Switzerland win Group A and Norway qualify as runners-up; they’ll meet Japan and Spain next, with those two facing off tomorrow in a match that decides first and second in Group C.
Have Norway got themselves going just in time? They now lead Philippines 6-0, and Sophie Haug has her hat-trick.
And Switzerland have hung on; New Zealand are out. We’re not partial here, but I guess the tournament could Australia staying in, to keep the atmosphere going.
New Zealand have four minutes of stoppage time remaining as they seek the goal that’ll see them into the knockouts at the expense of opponents Switzerland.
Colombia settle for one alteration, Leicy Santos replaced in attacking midfield by Lady Andrade.
Germany make two changes following their tousing of Morocco: Felicitas Rauch is, sadly, injured, so her place at left-back goes to Chantal Hagel – and Giulia Gwinn and Carolin Simon were already missing from their back-four. Meanwhile, Leupolz loses her spot at the base of midfield to the also-excellent Lena Oberdorf.
And earlier, from our group:
I’m going to write those down, then we’ll talk about what they mean. So in the meantime, here’s what’s going on right now; the co-hosts badly need a goal…
Let’s have some teams!
Germany (4-2-3-1): Frohms; Hagel, Hendrich, Huth, Doorsoun; Oberdorf, Däbritz; Bühl, Magull, Brand; Popp. Subs: Berger, Johannes, Kleinherne, Hegering, Schüller, Lohmann, Freigang,Lttwein, Nuesken, Anyomi, Rauch, Leupolz.
Colombia (4-3-3): Perez; Vanegas, Arias D, Arias C, Carabali; Bedoya, Montoya, Andrade; Ramirez, Usme, Caicedo. Subs: Sepulveda, Giraldo, Ospina, Reyes, Restrepo, Santos, Baron, Guzman, Ramos, Chacon, Caracas, Bahr.
Preamble
Though it’s the job of the writer to describe events, not predict them, I can’t lie: I thought we’d see a fair few blowouts in our first round of matches, but in the event, there were just three.
The most convincing of them, though, was perpetrated by Germany, who monstered Morocco 6-0 and looked, if not the best team at the tournament on paper, the team for whom the tournament has come at the best time on grass. Most particularly, Alexandra Popp – so heartbreakingly forced out of the Euro 2022 final during the warm-up – is back and, with Klara Bühl, Lina Magull and Jule Brand behind her – then Melanie Leupolz and Sara Däbriz behind them! – we’re looking at a formidable side that it’s easy to see growing into a champion side.
Colombia, though, are not going to hand them anything. They also won their first match, 2-0 against South Korea., and are a tough, skilful outfit with total belief in what they’re doing. They won’t, most likely be able to rival Germany in possession, but do have serious qualify in attacking areas – most particularly thanks to Linda Caicedo, a next-generation superstar, but also through Cata Usme, the country’s all-time leading scorer.
So, a win for either side and they’re almost into the knockouts, but a draw would work fairly well too – and Colombia won’t give up their 0-0 without a fight.
Kick-off: 7.30pm local, 10.30am BST
