This Tuesday, February 27, Snapdragon Stadium hosted two games in the 2024 W Gold Cup group stage. Colombia played Puerto Rico for the first game of the night; then Brazil faced Panama.

Colombia needed the win from this match against Puerto Rico to advance to the next stage of the tournament and did play with that urgency.

The first goal of this game came in the 16th minute of the match when Catalina Usme scored from inside the penalty area. The initial scoring play was started by Linda Caicedo, who passed the ball to Manuela Vanegas. Vanegas launched the sphere into the box, where Manuela Pavi put on a touch on the ball to find Usme.

Usme went on to provide the assist in Colombia’s second goal in the 53rd minute, when she found Linda Caicedo free on through to goal. Caicedo generated a phenomenal individual play, dribbling past Puerto Rico’s backline, and fired a well-located shot to make it 2-0.

Catalina Usme, unfortunately, picked up an injury in the 58th minute of play and was seen exiting Snapdragon Stadium in a wheelchair. The 34-year-old was the team captain for Colombia on the day and is one of the leaders on this team.

Las Cafeteras dominated this match with 73 percent possession and a lot of offensive play. The previous encounter between Colombia and Brazil truly ended up deciding this Group B of the competition.

Colombia was first place in this group at the end of the match, but Brazil secured the top seed in the group with a massive 5-0 win over Panama.

Bia Menezes, Rafaelle Souza, and Debinha all scored a goal in the match, while Geyse scored two goals. The Manchester United star set the tone for the game with her first goal, which was an absolute rocket from the 10-yard mark.

Brazil put on a show at Snapdragon Stadium, as Debinha and company showcased their immense talent in what looked like a warm-up game for the South American side. With this victory, Brazil ended their group stage run in this W Gold Cup undefeated and with a very respectable goal differential of seven.

Brazil was one of the favorites to win the whole cup and is still among the top candidates to potentially take the first edition of this tournament home.

W Gold Cup action will return for the semifinals of the tournament on March 6 and the final of the tournament will be played at the Mission Valley Fortress on March 10.

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.