Catalina Perez World Cup Diary Part IV
MONTREAL – University of Miami goalkeeper Catalina Perez is a member of Colombia’s team at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup and is writing a multi-part diary to HurricaneSports.com during her experience in Canada.
Additionally, Perez is providing pictures for a gallery that will be updated throughout her time at the World Cup.
Monday, in part four of her diary, Perez reflects on Colombian’s thrilling 2-0 upset victory over France, the third-ranked team in the world . . .
Saturday was an extremely exciting day for us, so much so that our assistant coach fainted because his blood pressure got so high by the time we scored the second goal! At breakfast the coaching staff emphasized that Saturday was a beautiful opportunity that God was giving us. It is not every day that you get to battle for your country against such a highly ranked opponent. We really internalized and embraced this.
The morning went by quickly. We left to the stadium at 12 o’clock with the same energy and passion as always. In the locker room, we did as we usually do: play typical Colombia music and get anyone that comes into the locker room to sing and dance with us. We were focused. At that point the music relaxed us a bit and made us feel at home, despite being thousands of miles away. When we were informed that there were five minutes remaining before we had to take the field, we all got together, said a prayer, and sang the anthem aloud, just for us.
The ambiance in the locker room was memorable that day. You could feel we were all in it together and that we believed in each other, no matter what the majority of outsiders thought. Right before the game started, all 23 of us got together and listened to our captain tell us that this is the type of game we dream of playing. She told us to play with all we have, to give value to all our hard work and sacrifices through our play, and to continue making history because we were capable of doing so.
As the game began, we could tell France was overly confident, which we saw as an advantage. We knew we had to just stay focused on our tasks and keep battling. By doing so, we scored in the 17th minute. Feeding off that, we gained even more strength, but we were very conscious that we needed to stay focused because the French team was going to go at us even harder. We continued to stick to our tasks and to keep working hard.
As the second half went on, the French team substituted in three reinforcements with fresh legs to attack even more. The pace of the game went up incrementally, emotions rose and the game got even more difficult. The French team could not believe what was happening. They started to play desperately. They basically had their whole team on offense. In the final minute of the game, we took advantage of that and were able to get another goal by them.
We all just wanted the final whistle to blow so that we could all let go of the tension and start celebrating this magical moment in the history of Colombian soccer. It was Colombia’s first victory in a Women’s World Cup, our first shutout, the first time we beat a team that high up in the rankings, as France is ranked third in the World, and the first time a Colombian female won player of the match.
As the final whistle blew, we were all running toward each other to enjoy it all! The veterans have been with the national team together for over 12 years and the rookies have been here for six years, minus two players who recently started their careers with the national team. We have all dreamed about living moments like these together. The starting 11 played great soccer and they came up big on multiple instances. On the bench, everyone also had great energy to go into the game and make a difference. The coaching staff was positive and focused. Individually and collectively we all made a huge effort. It was truly a privilege to be part of that historic day for us.
Following the game, we were all worried about our coach. To us, what happened to him was a testament to how much he loves the game and how invested he is in us. Fortunately, he received the proper care quickly and he made a speedy recovery.
That night, we went out to eat just for a change. After that we went back to the hotel to get a good night’s sleep before our flight in the morning, but I do not think most of us did due to the excitement we continued to feel. In the morning, we traveled to Montreal. Now we are focused on our game versus England Wednesday. We are happy about our last victory, but the World Cup is just beginning and we are not satisfied. We will keep working optimistically!
