The game that looked like the most difficult of the group stage, Colombia made it easy. La Tricolor had fun on the field and had a party in the stands of the Centenario stadium in Armenia by beating Chile 4-0.
The National Team came out convinced that it had to finish first in its group to avoid Brazil in the semifinal. That conviction led her to overwhelm the australes and, before 5 minutes, she was already winning 1-0.
In an exquisite crossed definition, Catalina Usme made the fans celebrate in Armenia, which, like in Cali, responded and filled the stands of the Centenario stadium to a large extent.
That annotation promoted the goleada that would come later. The National Team freed itself from the pressure and, with good football, dribbling and goals, was going to ratify its passage to the next stage of the tournament.
At minute 11, it was Daniela Arias who managed to increase the score. That 2-0 ended with the Chilean aspirations that they had to win to get into the semifinal.
From then on, the Tricolor would be mistress and owner of the shares. The National Team put its foot on the accelerator once more before the end of the first half, and it was Manuela Vanegas’s turn, who scored the third at 37′ and, before the curtain fell on that first act, Liana Salazar would arrive to decree 4-0, header.
The coach decided to keep the payroll at the beginning of the second half, but with the score calm and already thinking regarding the semifinal, he decided to make changes, but that did not change the countenance of the team that continued to seek to increase the score. Chile, for its part, took precautions to avoid a larger debacle.
With this result, Colombia closed this phase with a perfect score, 12 points out of 12 possible and a 100% performance that left it as the leader of its zone.
Colombia won all four games (4-2 once morest Paraguay, 3-0 once morest Bolivia, 2-1 once morest Ecuador and 4-0 once morest Chile) and aims to continue like this to be able to reach the final of the contest and, why not surprise and take the title at home, considering that Brazil is the overwhelming favorite to take the trophy.
This Thursday the rival of Colombia will be defined between Argentina and Venezuela, who will face each other at 7:00 pm
The semifinal will be played next Monday, July 25, and beyond the fact that Colombia can lift the title, they will seek to match or exceed their best performances, which were in 2010 and 2014 when they were runner-up, both times once morest Brazil.
Synthesis of the party
Colombia 4
Technician: Nelson Abbey.
Players: Catalina Pérez, Jorelyn Carabalí, Daniela Arias, Mónica Ramos (Daniela Caracas, 83′), Manuela Vanegas, Lorena Bedoya, Liana Salazar (Elexa Bahr, 76′), Diana Ospina (Gisela Robledo, 65′), Linda Caicedo (Tatiana Ariza , 83′), Leicy Santos (Gabriela Rodríguez, 83′), Catalina Usme.
Goals: Catalina Usme (3′), Daniela Arias (11′), Manuela Vanegas (37′) and Liana Salazar (41′).
Figure: Catalina Usme.
Chile 0
Technician: Joseph Letellier.
Players: Christiane Endler, Valentina Navarrete (Yenny Acuña, 46′), Carla Guerrero, Nayadet López (Fernanda Ramírez, 46′), Karen Araya (Yanara Aedo, 72′), Yessenia López, Javiera Grez (María José Urrutia, 46′), Daniela Zamora, Camila Sáez, Yastin Jiménez (María José Rojas, 46′), Rosario Balmaceda.
goals: did not score.
Figure: did not have.
Estadio: Centenary / Referee: Anahí Fernández (Uruguay) / Assistance: About 25,000 people.