Women's World Cup: US Survives Colombia, Two Starters Suspended for Quarterfinals

The US Women’s National Team advanced to the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals after a 2-0 win over a surprisingly tough Colombian squad in their round of 16 match in Edmonton.

Colombia took advantage of USA’s underwhelming first half attacking their opponents whenever possible. Although US goalkeeper Hope Solo was rarely tested in the match, USA’s gloomy offence kept Colombia’s quarterfinals hope alive.

The turning point of the match came in the second period when Colombian goalkeeper Perez received a red card and was thrown out of the game after tackling USA’s Morgan Brian inside the penalty box in the 47th minute mark. US striker Abby Wambach took the penalty shot with her left-foot, but glaringly missed against a fresh third-keeper Stefany Castano.

Brian, the youngest player in the USWNT, took the spotlight three minutes later with a shot to the near post that passed through a helpless substitute keeper Castano putting USA in the driver’s seat. Coach Jill Ellis’ squad put the game away with a penalty kick from Carli Lloyd after Colombia’s Angela Clavijo brought down a running Megan Rapinoe in the 66th minute mark.

“This is the World Cup, I am really satisfied with advancing. Most of the goals in World Cup tournaments, the majority of them come on set-pieces, we have been brilliant. It is about finding a way. I thought we stroked the ball around pretty well at times. So I am pleased with where we are,” Ellis said via the Guardian.

However, it was a costly victory for USA with Rapinoe and Lauren Holiday set to miss the last-eight match against China after earning their second yellow cards of the tournament. Under FIFA rules, players that collect two yellow cards before the semifinals gets a one-game suspension. Rapinoe and Holiday thought the fouls they committed against Colombia are yellow card worthy.

"I felt [the yellow card] was a little undeserving, I think [Holiday] would feel the same way — hers even more than mine — but that's the way it is. It was unfortunate that it happened, and I think it was a weak yellow card, in my opinion. But I think we have a great team, [and] we have a lot of people that can step up," Rapinoe told Fox Sports.

Despite losing her two starters in the quarterfinals, Ellis said she feels very confident with her players contributing and stepping up. She also added that the team have dealt with injuries before and have invested in players significantly in the past six months.