Suddenly in the spotlight – Cata Coll: From the bench to the World Cup final? – Sports

The Spanish goalkeeper made a surprising start in the round of 16 at the World Cup. Now she wants to bring her team to the World Cup final.

In the group stage, Cata Coll had to sit on the bench three more times before suddenly being between the posts in the round of 16 against Switzerland. The 22-year-old pushed regular keeper Misa Rodriguez out of the goal – and then showed a strong performance against both Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Coll’s nomination for the World Cup actually came as a surprise. At FC Barcelona, ​​she also has to queue up, Sandra Panos has the status of number 1. The 30-year-old not only led the Catalans to a sovereign victory in the championship, but also to triumph in the Champions League.

No serious fight for 90 days

With just three appearances in all of last season, match practice is a foreign concept for Coll. So it happened that Coll had not played a game for more than three months before her appearance in the World Cup round of 16. But you didn’t notice that the 22-year-old was thrown in at the deep end. Although she only found out about her national team debut in the pre-game briefing.

Coll then showed her self-confident nature in the game. A quality that national coach Jorge Vilda also appreciates very much: “Cata stands out with her personality. What the team feels about her is the case for few others. She would never give up.” This is also why Coll was considered for the squad.

Back after difficult times

It is also part of her nature that she does not let setbacks get her down. In February 2022, Coll tore his cruciate ligament during training. What followed was more than a year of suffering. It wasn’t until March of this year that she made her comeback – a half-hour mission against Valencia.

Now she surprisingly moved back into the limelight at the World Cup. Both against Switzerland (by teammate Laia Codina) and against the Netherlands, she had to be defeated once, but had no chance to defend herself when she conceded goals.

Attention Sweden

Against Sweden, the finals at a World Cup are to be accomplished for the first time on Tuesday. The Spaniards have to watch out for the Swedish standards and the dangerous defender Amanda Ilestedt.

So what Coll needs to watch out for should be clear to her. After all, she has now had significantly more time to prepare than before the game against Switzerland.