Women’s Copa America: Colombia beats Argentina on penalties to reach the last, La2028 Olympic spot

On Monday, Colombia booked his place in the Copa America final of the Women’s Copa America after aiming Argentina with 5-4 in a nail biting penalty shootout after a scoreless semi-final.

Goalkeeper Katherine Tapia saved Paulina Gramaglia’s spot kick to give Colombia the advantage, but Mayra Ramirez then hit the bar again to arouse the hope of Argentina.

Wendy Bonilla put the sixth kick from Colombia away to stack the pressure on Eliana Stabile, who hit the bar to make Argentina crash.

«We are finalists, and we qualified for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles; that was our goal. We were prepared for the final,» Tapia said after the game.

Argentina started clearly with Florencia Bonsegundo and Yamila Rodriguez who tested the Colombian defense, but keeper Tapia turned out to be the same as the task with a series of crucial rescues.

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Colombia gradually found its rhythm, despite the first half injuries to players on both sides that disturbed the game flow. Ramirez, Leicy Santos and Linda Caicedo created opportunities, but could not find the breakthrough.

Colombia increased the pressure after the break and was painfully close to taking the lead when Valerin Loboa’s efforts in the vicinity of the net looked for the net, only for Argentina goalkeeper Solana Pereyra to produce a brilliant rescue.

The match marked the first use of VAR in the tournament, the technology that was only available from the knockout phases, when the referee rated an incident in the penalty area in which Sophia Braun and Manuela Pavi were involved in stopping time before it ruled that it was not a penalty.

Colombia will be confronted with Brazil or Uruguay, who meet in the second semifinal of Tuesday.