All eyes will be on the match between the Lionesses of England and Las Cafeteras of Colombia as they battle it out on the lush green of the Stadium Australia for a semifinal spot in the ongoing FIFA Women’s World Cup. England are now the top favourites to win the trophy after the elimination of defending champions United States and Germany and will be looking to earn that respect on August 12. However, Colombia have been the darling of the tournament so far, having attracted a good number of fans due to their daring style of play, a mix of youth and experience, and a wonder story in Linda Caicedo. There is surely more to the Colombians than their 18-year-old cancer survivor, but she fits the bill of the poster girl of the team, espousing female grit so well that fans and enthusiasts alike cannot want but love them for who they are.
Few predicted Colombia getting into the knockout rounds, much less the quarterfinal stage. Having topped a group that favourites Germany could not manage to qualify from, Colombia have gone on to their first-ever quarterfinal in just their third World Cup. This is a far cry from the team that lost all its group games at the 2019 Women’s World Cup as they look set to upturn every single obstacle on their way to the World Cup trophy. Colombia have simply been unplayable this season, beating South Korea and favourites Germany before losing narrowly to newcomers Morocco, who had a dream run of their own. They then dispatched Jamaica in a one-nil win, giving the Reggae Girlz their first loss in the tournament. Las Cafeteras have been a fine example of “give it your all” and you can see their hunger to win every ball and get in their passes and crosses in every match. It will not be much of a surprise if they manage to overpower the Lionesses and book a spot in the semifinal.
The Lionesses have not been so convincing right from the group stages, as they needed two matches to get into gear, picking narrow one-nil wins against Haiti and Denmark before sealing a six-one win against China. Sarah Wiegman tinkered a bit with her formation, finding a way to accommodate Chelsea star Lauren James through the middle. While this came good against China, it was unsurprisingly undone against Nigeria in their Round of 16 clash, where the Chelsea attacker was marked all game. This probably resulted in her stamping of Michelle Alozie, earning herself a red card and match suspension ahead of their quarterfinal clash against the South Americans. The Lionesses were not up to par in the game against Nigeria, although credit to them for defending well with ten men and winning it after spot-kicks.
Alessia Russo, Mary Earps, and Chloe Kelly will be the focal points for England in this match, and Cataline Usme and Linda Caicedo will be looking to cause as much havoc as possible in the opponents’ half. We look forward to an exciting clash between two good teams.