Leaving with this appeal …
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If you’re going to be awake over the next few hours, please come back for more commentary and reports from Australia and New Zealand. In any case, thanks for following along with this fascinating if somewhat one-sided game. See you next time.
Reminder of the stakes here: If the rest of this group goes to form, with Germany winning its next two games and Morocco losing both, the winner here advances as the second-place team in the group.
I’m not even sure Germany beats Colombia all that easily. This was a master class in pushing the ball into the final third, winning all the midfield battles and disrupting anything South Korea attempted.
On the bright side for South Korea, Peter Oh says, “At least Korea is certain to earn the Phair Play award.”
We can’t end with that, can we? Let’s see what else we have …
Ah, here we go … John Cartmell starts our conversation on crop rotation. “For us, it’s alternating beans and corn. (Soybeans and feed corn, to be precise.) Go Hoosiers! Plenty of soccer in Indiana.”
OK, we’ll pick up from there when I’m next on duty, which I believe is during the USA-Netherlands grudge match. Unless the Netherlands can raise their level a good bit from their opening game, we’ll have plenty of time to talk about crop rotation.
Before offering a final thought on the game, I’ll pass along one more thought on the “Not Mexican” Wave, this from Eric Moberg: “Responding to Alan, the wave may have come to the Detroit Tigers in part from the nearby 100,000+ seat University of Michigan stadium which features an impressive wave to this day. This article shows that even in 1983 when it had its Michigan debut “that stupid display” was controversial, even leading to threats of firing.”
One of the reasons I love this gig is that Guardian readers are masters of the arcane. I think we’ll spend part of the USA-Netherlands game talking about crop rotation.
Final: Colombia 2-0 South Korea
Fears that Colombia was going to get out on the field and wreak more mayhem than the guy in the insurance ads have proved to be unfounded. The South Americans took a deserved 1-0 lead on a well-taken penalty from the veteran star Usme, then took a slightly fluky 2-0 lead on a goalkeeping howler off a shot from their prodigy Caicedo.
What happened next was the most impressive part. Up 2-0, they allowed South Korea to do absolutely nothing. OK, one half-decent chance at the very end of the first half. But that’s it. Throughout the second half, Colombia looked like the most likely team to score, and that kept South Korea far away from anywhere dangerous.
90 +4 mins: Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains. So says the quote from the great film Bull Durham, and no, it wasn’t referring to the Ashes.
It’s just one of those days for South Korea. Since Colombia took the lead on the Usme penalty, South Korea has just never looked like anything was going to come together for them.
A turnover puts Colombia off to the races, but Usme’s indecision is costly.
90 +3 mins: Ramirez deserves a goal, and that was a good effort from the top of the box. Yoon atones for her error, cleanly snaring the ball.
90 +2 mins: I can’t remember the last time any South Korean attackers completed a meaningful pass. There’s a lot of hitting and hoping, punctuated by the occasional quixotic one-woman run.
90 +1 mins: FIVE minutes of stoppage time? I would’ve figured at least seven.
Updated
89 mins: We’ve reached the point in the game in which every Colombian player who picks up a slight bruise is going to stay down on the field long enough to take a nap. This team has played beautifully, but they can still delve into the Dark Arts.
88 mins: Diana Ospina comes on, seeing action in her third World Cup. Moon Mi-Ra is on for South Korea.
86 mins: Montoya and Vanegas are both down. Welch allows play to continue because Colombia still has the ball, and if they want to play it out to tend to their players, go ahead. Ramirez goes 1v4 and is moderately successful, but Welch eventually decides to blow the whistle.
84 mins: Full credit to Colombia for recognizing that the best defense is a good offense. They just aren’t letting South Korea have any sort of regular possession within 80 yards of the goal, and no South Korean player is going to score from 80 yards out.
83 mins: Phair nearly became the youngest Women’s World Cup player to concede a penalty kick. She manages to get a head to ball before wiping out a Colombian player.
81 mins: That was disappointing from Caicedo. Great cross from Ramirez, dummied by a player running in the center, and the phenom has the ball and acres of space 20 yards away. She takes a touch in toward the recovering South Korean defense and can only get a corner kick that comes to naught.
79 mins: Never stop playing the ball in expectation of getting a handball call. The average soccer player has no idea what referees are actually looking for before they blow the whistle. With the ball near the top of the South Korean box, Colombia basically stops playing and looks for a call. Thus endeth the attack.
16-year-old Casey Phair sets World Cup record
The New Jersey teen enters the game for South Korea. She’s the youngest player ever in a Women’s World Cup game – 16 years and 26 days.
Updated
77 mins: South Korea blasts a cross from the right flank, looking for Park, but Perez gets it.
75 mins: We have drums, we have metallic clangs, we have chants … this venue is on the smaller side, but it’s rocking.
Restrepo replaces Santos for Colombia.
72 mins: South Korea earns a succession of throw-ins, moving the ball forward bit by bit.
Colombia regains possession on a trivial bump right in front of the AR, who raises a flag and gets the soft foul called.
Anyone who tells you there’s no diving and flopping in women’s soccer either (A) is stretching the truth or (B) doesn’t watch women’s soccer.
70 mins: Lee charges into the heart of Colombian defense and draws contact. South Korea tries to take the kick quickly, but Welch makes them bring in back.
Ji’s free kick drops into the box and causes Colombia a nervous moment or two.
But now it’s out on the left to Caicedo. She leaves it to Usme to shoot, but the shot is blasted straight at a defender.
68 mins: At last, substitutions. Park Eun-Sun, the 6-foot forward, comes in with … Rimbappé!
67 mins: Ramirez gets judo-tossed near midfield. Another free kick. Partially cleared, but Bedoya surges forward with the ball and unleashes a shot that slams into the South Korean defense.
66 mins: Still no subs for either team. US men’s supporters are surely shuddering at the thought of all the times Gregg Berhalter left his bench players on the bench late in a match.
65 mins: Ji’s free kick floats to the far post and takes an eternity to get there. The Colombian defense has little trouble getting the ball out.
64 mins: South Korea earns a free kick. The replay shows that Welch might have been fooled on that one. The English ref has done well with this game, tough.
61 mins: CHANCE as crosses just keep flying into the South Korean box. Ramirez heads just wide.
60 mins: A South Korean counterattack bogs down, and then a very long hopeful ball lands safely in Perez’s hands.
Colin Bell has to be considering some changes.
58 mins: Caicedo draws yet another foul. At some point, we may see a yellow card for all this.
The free kick from just inside the South Korean half bounds over the massed players and then causes some concern for Yoon in goal. South Korea still looks more likely to concede a third than they do to score a first.
55 mins: Colombia is simply pinning South Korea in its own half like the dog herding sheep in those viral videos of a dog herding sheep. Nothing particularly dangerous, but while I’m no tactical wizard, I think South Korea needs to get the ball to the other side of the field to score.
A quick reminder: Want to get a weekly newsletter on European (and sometimes US) soccer from one of the world’s best writers on the global game? Then sign up for Jonathan’s Wilson’s email. Oh, and it’s free too.
51 mins: Carolina Arias flirts with a second yellow card in a particularly careless challenge. Dropping to 11v10 would certainly make the next 40 minutes interesting.
49 mins: Nice backheel by Lee, but it’s intercepted. Improved possession here from South Korea, at least.
47 mins: A brief bit of possession for South Korea to start the half, but then we’re back at the other end.
Alan Terlep seeks some credit for Detroit when it comes to the Wave: “While “The Wave” dates back to 1981, it first gained national attention in the US in 1984, when Detroit Tigers fans (baseball) started it during the Tigers’ run to winning the World Series (their last victory BTW). A New York Times article from 1984 notes the connection.”
We’ll see if we get more waves in the second half, which has kicked off.
The irony of Yoon’s howler is that I had just been thinking before this game about women’s soccer goalkeeping and how much it’s improved. Obviously, I need to stop thinking. I’m only doing harm.
Steve Taylor writes to say our stats say South Korea has 2 percent of the possession. That is most definitely not correct. I’ll ping someone to see what’s up with that.
Halftime reading: Why the “Mexican wave” isn’t Mexican.
British reporters weren’t aware of it until the 1986 World Cup, hence the attribution to Mexico.
Halftime: Colombia 2-0 South Korea
South Korea looked terrific for 15 minutes. But when Colombia got rolling, they just tore the South Korean defense to shreds.
What will Colin Bell, the Englishman in charge of the South Korean team, change at the half?
45 +9 mins: CHANCE for South Korea, with Choe brilliantly slicing through defenders and chipping the ball into the box for Lee, whose header is well saved by Perez. The Colombian keeper was certainly more alert than the defense there. Nearly a costly lapse in concentration.
The ensuing corner comes to naught.
45 +6 mins: Yellow to Carolina Arias in a strange sequence involving a brilliant evasion of a South Korean slide tackle and then a hand to the face that referee Rebecca Welch ignored at first but then punished.
And now yellow to Lim, who knocked her feet into Usme’s, but you’d have to Usme did a rather poor Neymar impression to sell that one.
Welch, though, has been a significant improvement over officials we’ve seen in other matches here.
45 +5 mins: South Korea strings together some passes before going back to playing direct. There’s a difference, though, between “direct” and “impatient,” and they’re just not able to get the ball in a dangerous space.
45 +2 mins: Caicedo pursues and dispossesses a hapless South Korean opponent, but she’s a little careless with the ball after that.
Vanegas, still adjusting her head bandage, wins a free kick in her own half with … let’s say “minimal contact.”
She decides to discard her big head wrap.
45 mins: TEN minutes of stoppage time? TEN? Yes, we had a couple of stoppages for head injuries, along with two goals, but TEN?
44 mins: Another clash of heads, and Vanegas is getting a crown made of gauze.
Peter Oh once again: “The most talked-about subs of these two teams are arguably (My) Phair Lady.”
Will we see the US high school student in the second half?
43 mins: Peter Oh has another nickname: “and a supersub performance from Mi-Radonna (Mi-Ra Moon).”
South Korea could use a nickname-worthy performance, and soon.
Fun fact: Only one game in this Cup so far has seen at least one goal from each team.
GOAL! Colombia 2-0 South Korea (Caicedo 39)
The first World Cup goal from the teen phenom is unfortunately a howler from Yoon, the goalkeeper who plays in Sweden. Caicedo makes a quick run on the left and shoots high. Yoon gets both hands to it, but the ball squirts through and bounces over the line. Disaster for South Korea, and the fans are partying.
38 mins: Fans are doing the wave, prompting a discussion in the Fox commentary box as to whether the term “Mexican wave” is accurate. It’s not. I’ll explain at the half.
Free kick for Colombia 28 yards out (approximately). Usme again, and she goes for goal. Right at the keeper, though.
36 mins: More tiki-taka from Colombia. A second goal would not be a surprise.
33 mins: South Korea has not yet recovered. They get possession down the left flank, but a wayward pass trickles out for a goal kick.
A few seconds later, we see the same result.
This is a veteran team. They should be able to sort this out.
32 mins: Quick note for the record – Shim saw yellow for the handball that prompted the penalty kick.
Colombia looks rampant now.
GOAL! Colombia 1-0 South Korea (Usme 30 pen)
She’s Colombia’s all-time leading scorer, and you can add another to that tally now. Welch takes a while settling down both teams, but Usme isn’t the least bit rattled, sending Yoon the wrong way and easily depositing the ball into the open space.
Updated
28 mins: Momentum has truly shifted to the team in yellow and … is that a handball. YES! Rebecca Welch points to the spot.
The buildup started with a surge from Ramirez, drawing a free kick that is played forward and not convincingly cleared.
26 mins: Both teams are pressing hard in midfield, and both teams are making some nifty moves and passes to maintain possession. This is truly marvelous.
Mary Waltz checks in: “Beau, greetings from California. Great tempo to this match, I hope they keep it up. After watching Ireland in the opening match I am amazed they found a team too violent for them. In regards to Amy, the sucker punch was brutal but she was known to plow through a number of opponents, she was a tank when needed. One of the greatest American footballer ever to put on boots.”
I’m assuming you mean “Abby,” as in Abby Wambach. Yes, she could throw her weight around as well, but yes, she’s one of the best ever.
23 mins: Caicedo trips over the ball and is down. She would be an unfortunate subtraction from this game, but she’s up quickly.
21 mins: The Colombian midfield is starting to string passes together.
And as I say that, they get an offside call 40 yards from the South Korean goal.
19 mins: Caicedo draws a little bit of contact and earns a free kick just inside the South Korean half. Players from both sides form a neat line 25 yards from goal, but the setup work goes for naught.
Some brightly dressed Colombian fans get a bit of air time. When they realize they’re on camera, they break into a dance. If you had a time machine and could get tickets for any of the first 16 games of this Cup, you’d pick this one.
18 mins: Colombia finally gets an extended possession in the South Korean half, and they win a corner kick. The experienced Usme stands over it with eager anticipation. It’s an in-swinger that swings a bit much, landing on top of the net.
16 mins: South Korea still is getting the better of play, but at last, we see Caicedo in space with the ball. Her pass forward is off target.
14 mins: A Colombian foray ends with a needless foul. South Korea again wastes little time getting forward, but the Colombian midfield regains possession.
Peter Oh adds nicknames: “Rimbappé is on the bench? Well I suppose Colin Bell can afford to do that since he’s got Ji Messi on the pitch to create and Chottuso to enforce. And the threats don’t stop there. I see the potential for Hye-Ri Kane (Kim Hye-Ri) and Limeker (Lim Seon-Joo) to bang in some English-style goals. … Technical note: Limeker doesn’t actually work when you say it, because the surname Lim is pronounced “eem” in Korean. But on paper I am willing the joke to work.”
Joe Pearson informs me that he’s retired. Then have a good caffeinated beverage and stay up, because this is fun one so far.
11 mins: Ji gets her kick over the wall, but Perez claims it easily.
9 mins: My goodness, this game is fast. Frenetic possession at each end.
We’ll get an interruption now because Vanegas got her foot all the way up to the head of the onrushing Son. Ouch. Easy call to show yellow, and Ji has a free kick just outside the box.
7 mins: We can barely hear the referee’s whistle, but that was such an obvious foul by Colombia that we didn’t really need it.
South Korea goes direct again, and it’s a CHANCE for Choe. Her 15-yard shot is driven hard but is right there for Perez to claim.
Joe Pearson checks in from Indianapolis: “Writing from Indiana, where I have the rare opportunity to watch one of these antipodean World Cup matches live. Usually I just get up in the morning and cue up the DVR. Can’t promise I’ll stay to the end, but I’m with you at the start!”
Stay up late. Call in sick. I’ll write you a note.
I’m sorry to report that Caribali is still down.
4 mins: It’s the veteran Ji So-Yun taking the corner, and Perez has to punch it out for another corner.
This sequence ends, unfortunately, with a clash of heads, and Caribali is down.
3 mins: South Korea goes Route 1 to Choe, and Perez unconvincingly comes out of the box to play it out with her feet. South Korea maintains possession, and Choe gets a shot deflected for a corner.
2 mins: After some games with dreary rain and subdued crowds, this is a treat. It’s sunny and loud.
Kickoff: Our referee is Rebecca Welch from Tyne and Wear.
South Korea lineup
GK: Yoon Young-Guel (Häcken)
D: Kim Hye-Ri (Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels), Jang Sel-Gi (IHS Red Angels), Shim Seo-Yeon (Suwon FC), Choo Hyo-Joo (Suwon FC)
M: Ji So-Yun (Suwon FC), Cho So-Hyun (most recently at Tottenham), Lim Seon-Joo (IHS Red Angels)
F: Choe Yu-Ri (IHS Red Angels), Lee Geum-Min (Brighton), Son Hwa-Yeon (IHS Red Angels)
Our scouting report says this: “Many players have popular nicknames according to their position or playing styles. The most well known is “Ji Messi” for Ji So-yun, while Cho So-hyun has been nicknamed “Chottuso” after former Italy midfielder Gennaro Gattuso and Kang Chae-rim has been called “Rimbappé” after Kylian Mbappé.”
Rimbappé is on the bench.
Colombia lineup
GK: Catalina Perez (Avai FC)
D: Manuela Vanegas (Real Sociedad), Jorelyn Carabali (Atletico Mineiro), Daniela Arias (America de Cali), Carolina Arias (Junior de Barranquilla)
M: Daniela Montoya (Atletico Nacional), Lorena Bedoya Durango (Real Brasilia), Catalina Usme (America de Cali)
F: Leicy Santos (Atletico Madrid), Mayra Ramirez (Levante), Linda Caicedo (Real Madrid)
Santos is shown in ESPN’s graphic as a left forward, but The Guardian’s player guide lists her as a “classic No 10.”
Usme is Colombia’s all-time leading scorer with 38 goals.
Our scouting report says the team plays a tiki-taka style in a 5-2-2-1 or a 4-2-3-1.
Colombia’s World Cup prep took a twist when their closed-door friendly against Ireland was abandoned after 20 minutes because the Irish team felt things were getting a little too “physical.”
Ireland coach Vera Pauw: Our players “feared for their bodies.”
Colombia defender Daniela Caracas: “Let them eat (not cake).”
US fans with a longer memory might say, “No kidding.”
That’s Colombia’s Lady Andrade inflicting an injury, to put it nicely, on Abby Wambach in the USA’s 3-0 win in the 2012 Olympics.
Andrade wound up signing for Wambach’s former team, the Western New York Flash, which played close to where Wambach grew up.
She has since played all over the place for various clubs, and she’s on the roster for the Cup.
One more note on age, from Fifa’s site: If 16-year-old US high school student Casey Phair and 38-year-old goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi both take the field, they will set the record for the biggest age gap between two Women’s World Cup teammates. The current record is held by Brazil’s Formiga and Meg.
Preamble
One of the fun things about any World Cup is seeing teams and players that might not necessarily be in your typical viewing pop up on your screens with unique skills and compelling stories.
I’ll go out on a limb here (not literally, given the giant branch that fell in my neighbor’s yard last week) and say most readers here aren’t too familiar with Colombia and South Korea. They have one thing in common – their biggest World Cup achievements were in 2015, when South Korea upset Spain and Colombia shocked France. Another thing in common – those are their only World Cup wins.
The players to watch are separated by 14 years …
For South Korea, that’s 32-year-old Ji So-yun, a longtime Chelsea player once mentioned by Suzanne Wrack as “arguably the best foreign player in WSL history.”
For Colombia, that’s 18-year-old forward Linda Caicedo, who has lived more in those 18 years than most people do in a lifetime. Her awards include Best Player honors in the Copa America, and she cracked into The Guardian’s top 100 players in the world even before her move to Real Madrid. She’s also a cancer survivor.
Now consider this … Germany will probably win this group, and Morocco may finish last. The winner of this match has a very good chance of taking the second Group H spot in the round of 16.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s how the opening game in this group unfolded:
After an opening-night upset and some unexpectedly close games so far in the Women’s World Cup, there was an open, albeit optimistic question as to whether Morocco could give Germany a scare. But it was evident from the first whistle that Morocco were not going to be able to keep a clean sheet for long and after a slower first half, the Euro 2022 runners-up brushed the debutants aside with an emphatic 6-0 victory in the Group H opener.
The divide between the world No 2 and No 72 was just too big and it took 11 minutes for Germany’s captain, Alexandra Popp, to find the back of the net, heading in Kathrin Hendrich’s cross from the left. Morocco’s goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi and a defender came out to meet the ball but both misjudged it, leaving Popp with an open goal.
Crosses proved to be the biggest issue for the Atlas Lionesses, the first Arab nation to qualify for the tournament. Popp secured her second goal from a corner in the 39th minute even though it appeared she was facing the wrong way. The fact Germany were only two up by half-time was thanks to some solid interceptions and tackles from Zineb Redouani and Sarah Kassi.
The Moroccan forwards did expose some shakiness in Germany’s defence, which was missing Marina Hegering, something Colombia and South Korea, the other teams in Group H, will be better placed to take advantage of. The Morocco captain, Ghizlane Chebbak, and Rosella Ayane made promising runs forward, linking up nicely and forcing Germany’s goalkeeper, Merle Frohms, into action, but were unable to convert their chances.
You can read the full report below:
