Women's World Cup 2015: Day 8 Takeaways
The second round of group fixtures is complete at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup after Groups E and F shared the spotlight on Saturday.
Colombia pulled off the upset of the tournament so far with a shocking 2-0 win over France in the early match in Group F. Later, England edged Mexico 2-1 for its first three points of the tournament.
Elsewhere in Group E, Brazil qualified for the knockout stage with a tight 1-0 victory over Spain. In the late match, South Korea drew 2-2 with Costa Rica, a result that secured the top spot in the group for Brazil.
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Colombia leads Group F with four points, while France and England are level with three each. Mexico is fourth with one point. All four teams remain alive.
Brazil tops Group E with six points, while Costa Rica is second with two. South Korea and Spain have one point apiece.
Here are the key takeaways from Day 8 at the Women's World Cup.
Favorites prove beatable again as Colombia upsets France
Colombia caused the shock of the tournament so far with a 2-0 upset of France in Group F. It was the South American side's first-ever World Cup win.
As expected, third-ranked France dominated possession and played lovely technical football. But Colombia absorbed pressure and took the lead in the 19th minute through Lady Andrade. Running on to Yoreli Rincon's incisive through ball, Andrade kept her cool and slotted past Sarah Bouhaddi.
Colombia's approach mimicked that of England when the Three Lionesses lost 1-0 to France on Tuesday. The difference was that Colombia posed a much greater threat when holding possession.
France, meanwhile, was unable to turn its advantage in possession into meaningful chances. For all their fancy football, Les Bleues often failed to trouble Colombia, and when they did create chances, Las Cafeteras goalkeeper Sandra Sepulveda stood tall.
"We've proved that we're not just here to make up the numbers. We knew that we'd have to play intelligently and fight for every ball. My players are real battlers," Colombia coach Fabian Taborda said, per the Associated Press via the New York Times.
As France chased the game in the closing stages, Colombia caught Les Bleues out and added a second goal via Catalina Usme. With that, the 28th-ranked team in the world had pulled off one of the most memorable upsets in Women's World Cup history.
The result shook up the Group F table. Colombia now leads with four points from two matches, while France and England are level with three points each. Mexico is still alive with one point.
On the final matchday, England will play Colombia, while France takes on Mexico. After two rounds of unpredictable results, Group F is wide open.
"There were numerous aspects that weren't quite right (Saturday)," France coach Philippe Bergeroo said, per the Associated Press, via the New York Times. "We weren't accurate enough with our passes at key moments. Despite that, we still created chances, but their goalkeeper had a great match."
But Colombia got away with a blatant handball
Colombia did enough to deserve its victory over France, but the South Americans profited from a poor refereeing decision that arguably affected the outcome of the match.
In the 67th minute, with Las Cafeteras leading 1-0, Colombia's Daniela Montoya cleared the ball out of her own box with a blatant, intentional handball. Referee Liang Qin apparently missed the incident, because she failed to take any action.
If Qin had seen the handball, France at least would have won a penalty. From there, Les Bleues likely would have scored, and then the match would have played out differently. In addition, Montoya, who intentionally handled the ball, might have seen red for her indiscretion.
It is not clear how Qin missed the call, but this is not the first time poor refereeing has affected the outcome of a match. At least two of Thailand's goals were clearly offside as the Asian side defeated Ivory Coast on Thursday. And on Tuesday, Mexico had a late winner ruled out against the same Colombian side on a highly questionable call.
To be clear, this is not to say that Colombia is unworthy of leading Group F. Las Cafeteras defended resolutely against France and took their chances efficiently.
But refereeing is starting to become a major problem at this World Cup. With the group stage not yet complete, bad calls have impacted multiple results. That is a problem for such a prestigious tournament.
England back in the mix
After failing to threaten France in an opening 1-0 defeat, England switched to a 4-3-3 formation and recorded a 2-1 victory over Mexico.
The change, however, did not reap immediate results. The Three Lionesses had to wait until the 71st minute to make the breakthrough via Fran Kirby. It was England's first World Cup goal in 222 minutes, a streak dating back to the 2011 quarterfinals and a loss to France on penalties.
Karen Carney added an 82nd-minute header to make it 2-0 before Fabiola Ibarra pulled a late goal back for Mexico.
England will be pleased with the result and with the fact that through two matches the chance remains to top Group F. With a win over Colombia on Wednesday, the Three Lionesses could well advance as group winners. But the main concern for Mark Sampson's side will still be scoring goals.
Brazil lackluster again in win over Spain
Brazil failed to fully impress for a second straight match but still emerged with another victory, 1-0 over Spain in Montreal.
The European side dominated possession in the early stages but could not find a way to score. One minute before halftime, Andressa Alves scored the game's only goal, finishing from close range at the second attempt after Celia Jimenez had cleared her initial effort off the line.
Spain had more opportunities to score in the closing stages. In the 87th minute, after being played clean through behind Brazil's defense, Vero Boquete hesitated and let the chance pass. In stoppage time, Irene Paredes struck the post with a shot from a tight angle on the right.
So while Brazil did win for the eighth straight time in World Cup group matches, the South Americans were far from dominant. Stagnant in the first half and too content to hold the lead in the second half, the Selecao still appear some distance from their best.
For upcoming opponents, that could either give cause for optimism or concern. So which is it? Does Brazil have another level in reserve? Or will this team eventually come up against an opponent that proves too good? Only time will tell.
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