By Nick Mulvenney
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Colombia will celebrate their stunning upset victory over Germany at the Women’s World Cup on Sunday but have no intention of resting on their laurels, assistant coach Angelo Marsiglia said after the 2-1 win.
Manuela Vanegas scored a last-gasp winner to put the South Americans top of Group H and all but secure their progress to the knockout stage of the tournament.
“We need to give this win to our whole country,” said Marsiglia, who was standing in for Nelson Abadia while the head coach served the second match of his ban for a red card he received at the 2022 Copa America tournament.
“After the game, we were overcome by emotions. Emotions were running high but we gathered in a circle on the pitch and we said ‘look, let’s enjoy this but keep our feet on the ground’. We will go step by step.”
The secret to stopping twice World Cup winners Germany, the assistant coach said, was to nullify their aerial threat by preventing them from getting crosses into the box.
“We are an excellent team, not only with the physical but also with the technical stuff,” he added.
“We knew this would be a very physical match because Germany would be attacking on the flanks. You know, the six goals that they scored against Morocco were mainly from the flank, so we had to block them.
“I have to say that Latin America has great players and great technique but the European football is more vertical and so we had to pay attention to that aerial play.
“I have to say that the team were on top of their game, especially against a big powerhouse such as Germany are in women’s football.”
Marsiglia said both of the team’s goals on Sunday illustrated the technique of the Colombians, not least the sublime 52nd-minute first from teenager Linda Caicedo.
Caicedo, who made her senior team debut at age 14 and was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at 15, collapsed in training on Thursday, raising fears over her health.
Marsiglia said he was confident the 18-year-old would be fit to play Colombia’s final group match against Morocco in Perth on Thursday.
“We know that Linda has had some problems in the past but nothing to be worried about,” he said.
“She was very tired of course. She had a bit of acceleration in her heart but this wasn’t a problem and she decided to continue and finish the game.”
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; editing by Clare Fallon)
