FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022 | "Linda is fit; we have a great opportunity to qualify for the finals:" Colombia coach ahead of the semi-finals

Even after winning the quarter-final easily against the Tanzania team, the Colombian team management had some concerns in the back of the mind. The current joint-top scorer of the tournament and their Linda Caicedo had to leave the match limping after sustaining a minor injury in the quarter-finals of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2022.

Well, not only Linda Caicedo is fit now, she is available to play in the semi-finals as well. In the pre-match press conference, the head coach of the team stated that "basically she did suffer a blow in the match against Tanzania and at that moment we were winning 3-0 scoreline and we did not wanted to risk her. Right now she is okay. Yesterday, she was practising and she is an important player for us."

Linda already won the Golden ball award in the FIFA Copa America Femina 2022. In fact, she has already represented Colombia in the U-17, U-20 and senior levels. Hence, it is very much important for the Colombian team to have their leader of the pack roaring at the defining end of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup.

The Colombian coach already has trained the Colombian Men U-20 team. Although he could not make it to the semis of any world cup with those teams, many players from that team have gone on to play for the senior Colombian team. Hence, Carlos Paniagua feels this is a very blissful moment for both him and all the girls in the team.

"We have got a lot of expectations back home for the game tomorrow. We are going to just go for it with the game tomorrow to try to get the final of the world cup," Carlos Paniagua said in the press conference held today.

Read Also: "We are here to create records:" Nigeria U17 Women's coach ahead of the semi-finals against Colombia

Many of this U-17 Colombia team have already featured in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, so there will be a lots of expectations from those "veterans" in the U-17 level. Juana Ortegon, who accompanied the coach in the press conference said, "everything that I have been able to achieve is because of the technical team and the believe they have shown in me. We are always trying to bring the best in the field."

In the quarter-finals against Tanzania, Colombia were able to make a mockery of the opponent defence and score three goals. However, in the second half, they could not convert from any of the chances they created on the pitch.

"It is difficult first-half rather for the rain. Thankfully, we were able to generate opportunity and make the most of these. In the second half, the objective was to have the control of the ball and have much more positions of the ball and try to generate those opportunities which were not able to complete," Juana expressed.

This will be third time that the Nigeria Women's team will go against Colombia. In both the last occasions, Colombia could not get better of the African team. However, coach Carlos Paniagua believes it can be a third time lucky for the team as this is one of the best opportunities for them to qualify for the World Cup final.

The Nigeria vs Colombia match will be broadcasted LIVE on FIFA+ app, Voot App and Sports18 network in India.