Colombia’s Linda Caicedo scores clutch Women’s World Cup goal after health scare

Colombian soccer player Linda Caicedo bounced back from a scary moment at practice earlier in the week to lift her squad to a 2-1 win over Germany at the Women’s World Cup on Sunday.

Caicedo broke the scoreless tie in the second half of the match with a goal in the 52nd minute. Colombia had the 1-0 lead until Alexandra Popp scored on a penalty in the 89th minute. Somehow, Manuela Venegas put one past Merle Frohms in the seventh minute of extra time.

“This is something historic for us. We’ve been feeling the whole time the backing from the fans from our country,” Colombia assistant coach Angelo Marsiglia said. “Today we were playing as a home team.”

Caicedo had a health scare earlier in the week when she dropped to the ground, holding her chest in a practice session. Team officials said it was fatigue and days later she was celebrating one of the biggest goals for Colombia in the tournament.

Caicedo was credited with a goal on Tuesday in a 2-0 win over South Korea.

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“Linda Caicedo is a fantastic player. We knew that before the World Cup,” Germany coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg said of the 18-year-old Real Madrid star. “We needed to be very attentive.

“It was a good goal. I have to admit that. But we definitely should be better. We should keep ball.”

Caicedo did need some medical attention in the 84th minute and was checked by trainers. She got up and started walking to the bench but, after signaling she was OK, she went back onto the field and continued the match.

Germany now needs a win over South Korea to stay alive in the tournament. Colombia has Morocco on its docket to move on to the knockout stage.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.