Key events
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.
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: