The Colombian team was unable to play its best football and had to resist the attack of the Canadians who needed it most to qualify.

In their two previous appearances at the competition, at London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, they fell in the first round without even winning a match. Directed by Angelo Marsiglia, Colombia were third in Group A, with three points and no goal difference, behind leaders France (6) and Canada (3, +3).

The only goal of the match was scored in the 61st minute by player Gilles, in a defensive inattention of Colombia in the aerial game.

Colombia lacked the attacking power of striker Mayra Ramirez, who was suspended for a second match, and neither Linda Caicedo nor Leicy Santos had much room to manoeuvre. Mayra returns for the quarterfinal series.

Colombia came back to react in the final minutes by taking the upper hand over their rivals in search of an equaliser, but they did not succeed.

In the group stage, Colombia lost to France 3-2, beat New Zealand 2-0 and lost to Canada 1-0. She therefore qualified as the best third.

Their next rival will be the Spanish team, world champions, in a match to be played next Saturday in Lyon.

The 'Canucks', who took the three points with a header from center Vanessa Giles (68), They made an impressive comeback after being dropped six points by FIFA.

The gold medallists won all three zone matches and recovered from the sanction, motivated by a spying scandal for which their coach, British Bev Priestman, was dismissed. They will face Germany, gold medallist in Rio, on Saturday in Marseille.

SPORT WITH AFP

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