Colombia’s under-20 soccer team come from behind to beat hosts France on penalties in the final of the Toulon Tournament in the south of France.
The young Colombians fell behind to a goal from Steven Joseph-Monrose after 54 minutes but equalized with just under 15 minutes remaining through a Duvan Zapata header and subsequently looked like the side most likely to go on and win it before the final whistle.
Despite some promising pressure, however, at the end of the 90 minutes the score remained 1-1, taking the tie into a penalty shootout.
Colombian goalkeeper Christian Bonilla produced a great save to deny the first French penalty-taker with a low stop to his left before young Colombian captain and star James Rodriguez, currently plying his trade with Porto in Portugal, confidently stepped up to give Colombia the lead in the shootout.
France then missed their second penalty after another Bonilla save, allowing Colombia to go 2-0 up and seemingly on the verge of victory. Although there was a nervous moment when Colombia missed their third penalty, they were able to close out the shootout 3-1, sparking scenes of jubilant celebration amongst the players.
The victory at the Toulon Tournament, Colombia’s third in the history of the annual event, completes the perfect preparation for the young Colombian side before they host the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which begins at the end of July.
