Analysis: France and Colombia book their quarter-final spots
Colombia's all-action style finally breached Jamaica's defensive wall, as France's 4-4-2 was again too much for their opponents to handle, this time Morocco were on the receiving end...
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Colombia tredding new waters after latest victory
It's hard to quantify tactics in a first half which saw very little football played. To call it a gritty match would be an understatement as both sides cancelled each other while plenty of small fouls ended in a very disjointed half of football and unsurprisingly a 0-0 scoreline heading into half-time.
Colombia had to adapt at the back with left-back Manuela Vanegas suspended, but 18-year-old Ana Guzmán did a fine job. She was defensively solid, attacked well and her excellent cross-field pass unlocked the stable door for Catalina Usme to slot home the opener.
The cross-field pass and stretching Jamaica's solid 4-4-1-1 was something Colombia didn't utilise during the first half, but it was a clear tactic early in the second, realising they were going to have do something special to shift a backline which still hadn't conceded a goal in the tournament until Usme's sublime touch and finish finally breached Becky Spencer's goal.
It was an uncharacteristic goal for Jamaica to concede because it was Deneisha Blackwood, who has been exceptional tournament, who was out of line with the rest of her defence and got under the ball to allow Usme in to score the only goal of the game.
To be fair to Blackwood, her whipped deliveries from the left were about the best chance Jamaica had of scoring. Khadija Shaw once again cut a somewhat frustrated figure, having to drop deep to get on the ball and couldn't really make an impact inside the Colombia box.
Colombia did a good job of swarming all over Shaw, particularly in the first half, while Kalyssa van Zanten coming into the starting line-up didn't have the desired effect. When Atlanta Primus came on at half-time, they had a little more joy getting the attack into the game, while Drew Spence was excellent at both ends of the pitch in her mifield role.
It did leave them a little more exposed though and that's what Colombia enjoys. Against a structured side, they struggled, but once the game opened they hit their stride, because this is an attack which likes to be unpredictable. While Linda Caicedo likes to hug the left wing, Leicy Santos can break forward into space and Usme and Mayra Ramírez regularly switch roles, with Usme drifting to the right for her goal, with Ramírez coming more central as the focal point of the attack.
It should be said, Colombia's defence has also been excellent for large parts of this tournament. Jorelyn Carabali in particular has caught my eye, but alongside Daniela Arias the pair were excellent, as was Guzman at left-back and goalkeeper Catalina Pérez was again solid too.
For Jamaica, this has been a really good tournament, but the breach was coming. Spencer's xGC in the group stage was 2.4 as opposed to the zero she actually conceded, and she could only keep Colombia at bay for so long. The better team went through and England vs Colombia should be a really intriguing match up.
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France look more threatening with every match
As second round games have gone, this was a breeze for France and worryingly for others, they seem to be really building in this tournament. While some of their rivals have had ups and downs, France have slowly got better with every game as they start to get to grips with Hervé Renard's way of playing and his system.
Morocco meanwhile have enjoyed a really valiant tournament. After reshuffling the defence post-Germany hammering, they'd kept two clean sheets in two games, looked a really solid unit and in the likes of Ghizlane Chebbak showed a real creative spark when going forward, but former France international himself Reynald Pedros had little answer despite naming an unchanged side.
Renard only made one change, an enforced one at that, with Élisa de Almeida replacing the injured Maëlle Lakrar, sticking with the 4-4-2 system France has really started to look a threat in.
That opening round 0-0 against Jamaica feels a lifetime ago, and partly that's been down to a bit of a reshuffle but also the return of Selma Bacha out on that left wing. In the opening match, the odd player out of position meant France couldn't get the best out of their key players, such as Kadidiatou Diani, who now has four goals and three assists in the three games since that Jamaica stalemate.
The combination between Bacha and Sakina Karchaoui on the left side of the French team has been particularly crucial to their rise in form. They are without doubt two of the best left-sided players in the world at the moment and to have them on the same team is a nice issue for Renard to have.
On the other side, Kenza Dali is also growing into the tournament and once again thrived in this match, all while the new head coach still has the luxury of Diani and Eugénie Le Sommer in attack.
From the moment they combined to open the scoring against Brazil, these two forwards who will become club teammates this season have struck up a real connection. Diani leads with her four goals, but a brace for the evergreen Le Sommer takes her to three, which isn't bad for a player who wouldn't have been at this tournament if Corinne Diacre hadn't been sacked.
But to play as France do with almost a front four, you need an ultra disciplined midfield, and they have that too. There was concern about how the injury to Amandine Henry pre-tournament would affect things, but the duo of Grace Geyoro and Sandie Toletti have been excellent. Both tidy on the ball, they sit, do the dirty work and feed the ball into the forwards and the wingers, making sure they're offering plenty of protection to the defence if they get countered quickly.
If that's enough, Renard is utilising a nice cheat code off the bench in the shape of 19-year-old Vicki Becho, another player who lines up for Lyon alongside the likes of Le Sommer, Diani and co. The teenager has come off the bench plenty this tournament, but in just 165 minutes has registered both a goal and an assist and created seven big chances. She constantly looks a threat and if things aren't quite clicking, she's a brilliant option to have.
France and Renard won't be expecting to breeze past co-hosts Australia by a similar score in a mouth-watering clash on Saturday, but they look well-placed to halt the people's favourites if they continue to play the way they are. Renard has already done enough in a short space of time to show how good he may be able to make this squad going forward, and he's done it without Griedge Mbock, Delphine Cascarino and Marie-Antoinette Katoto.