In the days leading up to their opening World Cup matches, Jamaica’s national team head coach Lorne Donaldson found himself on the upper floor of a Sydney nightclub.
He soon noticed a group of Colombians partying downstairs. Donaldson and his group went to mingle and said they all marvelled at the serendipity: representatives of two nations, tens of thousands of miles from home, finding the same venue to let loose before locking in for the biggest tournament in women’s football.
A few weeks later, they met again for a different kind of dance, 440 miles away in Melbourne.
“I think it makes it better that you have countries like this who enjoy life first,” said Donaldson before Jamaica and Colombia’s last-16 tie. “Hopefully, whoever is left standing in this game, we can walk over and say ‘good job.’”
The two nations’ journeys through the World Cup have shared a healthy overlap. Both have featured in headlines alongside words like “stun” or “shock”: Colombia beat Germany 3-2, while Jamaica held France and Brazil to scoreless draws. Two star strikers, albeit with very different playing styles, are the poster players of each side in Colombia’s Linda Caicedo and Jamaica’s Bunny Shaw. Both teams have cultivated and reaped the benefits of meticulously…
