Colombia are set to make their third appearance at the Olympic Games this summer, and they arrive as a promising threat. Last summer during the Women’s World Cup, they took centre stage with their most successful performance yet, and now everyone knows what the South American team is all about. In their final group game of the tournament, they stunned Germany with a 2-1 victory and qualified for the knockout stages by topping their group.
Head coach, Marsilglia Angelo, who took over the Colombian Women’s National Team in January 2023 has built a passionate, determined, and hungry team. Nineteen-year-old Linda Caicedo, who plays for Spanish side Real Madrid, is one of the team’s youngsters to look out for in this tournament. During their qualification campaign for the Olympics, Caicedo’s goal earned them a 1-0 win over Argentina in the semi-finals of the Copa América and secured them their spot in Paris. Despite an upcoming tough group with France, New Zealand, and defending champions, Canada, can their golden girl shine again?
Centre forward, Mayra Ramirez, is also amongst the highly talented and technical side. Since signing with Chelsea earlier this year in January from Levante, her success as a Blue hasn’t gone unnoticed. Her team lifted the Women’s Super League trophy after finishing top of their domestic league in the 2023/24 season, and now she’s looking for more silverware, this time with her national team.
Thirty-three year old Catalina Usme has served her national side for years, she is the all-time top goal scorer for Colombia (men’s or women’s) with 52 goals and is the leading scorer for Colombia in the three appearances she’s made for the World Cup too.
Usme was amongst the many female athletes that struggled with pursuing football as a full-time career in a male-dominated sporting industry. In an interview with FIFA, she said,
“I remember very strongly when I told my mother that I wanted to be a professional soccer player.” And she said to me, “But how, if women’s soccer doesn’t exist?”
And now, in 2021, she was nominated the best player of IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics), becoming the first and only Colombian woman to have been included in that list.
Colombia made their debut appearance in the 2012 London Olympics and qualified again for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and are since making their return. Their most successful tournament campaign was last summer’s Women’s World Cup when they reached a historic Quarter-Final, after falling short by a 2-1 loss from the Lionesses.
As for the Olympics, they have never gotten out of the group stage. Just how far can this Colombian spirit take them?
