It is the eighth cup raised by the Brazilian team
The Colombians reacted late and looked for the tie in the last minutes
A penalty goal from forward Debinha was enough for Brazil will beat a rocky and struggling Colombia this Saturday 0-1 and thus lift their eighth title of the Copa América Femenina at the Alfonso López stadium in the Colombian city of Bucaramanga.
The unbeatable team led by Sweden’s Pia Sundhage finished the tournament with a six game win streak of the same amount disputed, in which he scored 20 goals and did not receive any.
In addition to facing some difficult opponents, the Canarinha had to deal with the multitude of Colombian fans that filled the stands of the sports arena and shouting “Yes, we can” supported the coffee makers, who dreamed of winning the continental tournament for the first time in their history.
From the first minutes the game was very close in midfield and the Brazil coach had to deal with a big problem: the departure of midfielder Angelina at minute 8 due to injury after a clash with the Colombian Lorena Bedoya.
La Canarinha tried to hurt Adriana on the left side, which complicated Daniela Caracas, he replaced Mónica Ramos in the starting elevenwhile the Coffee team appealed to the creativity of Leicy Santos and the speed of Linda Caicedo to cause damage.
The first approaches of the host group occurred in a counterattack to 13, led by Caicedo, and in a free throw at 20 that Catalina Usme took and, demanded, Lorena stopped him.
The Colombians bothered a Brazil that did not find its best version and depended a lot on the individual adventures of Adriana, who almost scored the first at 32 with a mid-distance shot that passed near the right post of Catalina Pérez’s goal.
Although he was not showing his best football, la Verdeamarela found a penalty four minutes later when lateral Manuela Vanegas knocked down Debinha in the area, who at 38 charged and celebrated to silence the Alfonso López stadium.
After the break, those led by Sundhage went out to look for the second one rivals who had a lot of difficulties to deal with the aggressive pressure exerted by Brazil.
That was how two opportunities came to increase the advantage: one with a free kick by Bia Zaneratto that passed close to the Colombian goal and another in a lethal counterattack in which Debinha could not win heads-up at a speedy Perez.
La Verdeamarela cooled down the game and Sundhage reinforced the midfield with Luana to try to prevent the ball from frequently reaching the coffee attackers.
Sundhage’s dominance took effect until the 70th minute, when the Colombians began to react and they approached Lorena’s goal with deflected shots from Usme, Caicedo and Santos.
In the final minutes, despite the wear and tear, the hosts turned to the Brazilian field and looked for the equalizer as best they could, but those led by Sundhage endured under the shadow of the Tainara and Rafaelle plantswho managed to put out almost all the fires caused by the skill of Caicedo and the creativity of Santos.
The Argentine judge María Laura Fortunato whistled the end of the match and Sundhage, her coaching staff and the players burst into jubilation because in Bucaramanga won their eighth Copa America title, which is added to those achieved in 1991, 1995, 1998, 2003, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
– Data sheet:
0. Columbia: Catherine Perez; Daniela Caracas, Daniela Arias, Jorelyn Carabalí, Manuela Vanegas; Lorena Bedoya (m.84, Gisela Robledo), Daniela Montoya, Catalina Usme; Linda Caicedo, Leicy Santos and Mayra Ramírez (m.61, Diana Ospina).
Coach: Nelson Abadía.
1. Brazil: Lorraine; Antonia, Tainara, Rafaelle, Tamires; Ary Borges (m.66, Gabi Portilho), Angelina (m.7, Duda), Kerolin (m.66, Luana), Adriana; Bia Zaneratto (m.86, Geyse) and Debinha.
Coach: Pia Sundhage.
Goal: 0-1, m.38: Debinha.
Referee: Argentine María Laura Fortunato. She admonished Tainara, Bedoya, Bia Zaneratto and Antonia.
Incidents: final of the Women’s Copa América played at the Alfonso López stadium in the Colombian city of Bucaramanga.