Colombia left a good taste and beat Australia well, in the closing of the SheBelieves Cup

Colombia managed to put a seven-match winless streak behind it and achieved a good victory against Australia, 2-1, this Wednesday in San Diego, at the close of its participation in the SheBelieves Cup, a tournament that tested the National Team's readiness for the challenges to come, the Women's Copa América and the qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil.

Angelo Marsiglia, the coach of the Colombian national team, put together his third different lineup in a week, with more experienced players than those who played and lost a long game against Japan. Only four starters repeated: Ana María Guzmán, Yirleidys Quejada, Leicy Santos and Linda Caicedo.

It was they who adapted best to the match, along with a very good level from Mayra Ramírez and Wendy Bonilla, who came together for the play that led to Colombia's first goal in the 15th minute, after a pass from Linda Caicedo on the left. Mayra was supportive and saw Wendy's entry, which she hit with her soul.

The introduction of two strong players in defence, Mary José Álvarez and Daniela Caracas, served to counteract, at least in the first half, the greater size of the Australians.

The team began to feel the wear and tear and Australia took advantage to get the equalizer, in a one-touch play that started on the left and ended in the center, with a shot by Hayley Raso that deflected off Daniela Caracas before going into Natalia Giraldo's goal, in the 69th minute.

But just as the bad luck of a deflection meant the tie, another ball that hit an opponent's goal helped Catalina Usme, when she was already suffering a little from fatigue, to reach her 62nd goal with the National Team and increase her legend.

A shot from the edge of the box by Galatasaray's player deflected off Natasha Prior and beat the goalkeeper: three minutes later, Colombia regained the lead, which they managed to maintain until the end of the game.

These were three matches against very high-level rivals that allowed Marsiglia to test all the players called up and see where her team is with a view to the Women's Copa América and the start of the qualifiers. She lost three of them due to injury: Jorelyn Carabalí, Ángela Barón and Marcela Restrepo. The 2-1 was a balm for a difficult week.