It was with that one striking image, one muggy Friday night in Cali 13 months ago, that Colombia’s World Cup journey began. Fists clenched and arms thrust up into the night sky, the national team players belted out the national anthem before their opening qualifier against Paraguay with a message of resistance that was unequivocal in its demand for change. Powerful and defiant, it was the moment the women’s team had boldly, yet impudently, seized the stage.
A day earlier, football league chiefs had sparked outrage by scrapping a long-promised commitment for a domestic tournament during the second half of the year. “There’s just no interest,” Felipe Jaramillo, the president of the Colombian top division, said. “We can’t have a league with just a few teams.” That same old excuse, echoed from the male-dominated top of the women’s game, had been heard time and time again. The record needed to change.
Colombia’s road to Australia and New Zealand began with a 4-2 win in front of 20,000 yellow shirts, who chanted their support for the raised-fist protest from the stands. The iconic photo of the players standing together in solidarity was quickly splashed across social media. In the next day’s papers, it would overshadow news of their victory.
Jaramillo’s statement, coming on the eve of last summer’s women’s Copa América that Colombia was hosting for the first time, had provided the spark for the players to take a stand. Half the squad played locally and they, alongside more than 300 league players, looked into the impending future and saw only dark uncertainty.
The players had gambled that by shining a spotlight on the repeated injustices in the game, they would be protected by a booming interest for women’s football across the country. A good performance at a tournament held on home soil and their soaring popularity would only solidify the cause. But the risk was great as many before them would attest.
Star players such as Natalia Gaitan, Yoreli Rincón and Vanessa Córdoba had previously spoken out against abuses in the women’s game. Yet their uncomfortable truths were never addressed and none of them have played for the national team since. Still at the top of their game, they argue that they remain blacklisted.
This time, however, the silent protest paid off. Colombia would go on to book their place at the 2023 World Cup after winning five out of six matches at the Copa. Despite losing 1-0 to Brazil in the final, they were the only country to give the eight-time South American champions a game. The gap between Colombia and the top was narrowing.
With each victory, support from the public swelled. Bars filled with fans, stadiums were sold out and the team was considered likeable, passionate and fiercely united. “I much prefer them to the men’s team. They’re down to earth and put everything on the line,” Camilo, a Bogotá cafe owner says. “That’s what you want to see when you see your country play.”
In tactfully defying their football bosses, Colombia’s players had also unwittingly unleashed a new battled-hardened personality that was seemingly harnessed from the frustrations of the past. In spite of all the abuses, the rampant misogyny, injustices and complete lack of support from above, they had toiled on tirelessly to achieve a place in the nation’s conscience. In the public’s mind, they had won immense respect.
Against Ireland in their now infamous pre-World Cup friendly, Colombia were accused of being “overly physical” in the behind-closed-doors game. Yet when a video emerged of the foul that sparked the Irish team to walk off after only 20 minutes, unanimous cries of disbelief rang out that a European team could be so delicate over a “simple tackle”. Deep down, most Colombians glowed. It was this gladiatorial grit that had been absent in many Tricolor teams that had come before.
This was a side that had matured to scrap out results and play hard when it mattered. Yet they were also blessed with talent, encapsulated by the genius of Linda Caicedo, who was emerging as a national hero. When needed, they could turn on the style. That one name was on everyone’s lips.
When Colombia kicked off their World Cup against South Korea in Melbourne, a record 9 million people tuned in to watch a confident 2-0 victory, secured once again by Caicedo. Already one of the world’s best, her life charts a remarkable story.
Having finished top scorer in the Colombian league aged 16, she then overcame ovarian cancer before joining Real Madrid on her 18th birthday this year. Having already represented her country with the Under-17s and Under-20s, this is her third World Cup in the past 12 months. Across Colombia’s capital Bogotá, Caicedo’s infectious smile is plastered everywhere. There’s currently no bigger star.
Yet it was against Germany that the pre-tournament outsiders came of age. Several million again tuned in back home, despite having to set their alarms for 4.30am. But in a land of coffee, staying awake wasn’t a problem.
“I couldn’t give a flying fuck if it was Germany,” captain, Catalina Usme, said after an injury-time winner sent Colombia into ecstasy with a historic 2-1 victory over one of the favourites. “But we aren’t here to beat Germany. We’re here to win the World Cup.”
Such confidence and focus now await England when the two countries meet in Sydney on Saturday. The Lionesses are heavy favourites, but have stuttered their way through the tournament so far while Colombia are poised to again upset the odds. Having already made history by reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time, the only South American nation left in the competition have been steadily scaling a fearless upward trajectory.
Their battle for respect and dignity in their relationship with their country’s football authorities is far from over. As a recent report released by Colombian players’ association Acolfutpro revealed, things on the ground are slowly improving but there is still far to go.
Almost half of Colombia’s 23-player squad will return home after this tournament with no competitive league football in store for the rest of the year. That’s the new battleground, a year-long tournament. But first, England.
