A Vanegas header deep into injury time gave Colombia victory over Germany and a strong hold of Group H at the World Cup.

Caicedo gave Colombia the lead with a goal of the tournament contender, and despite not being troubled too much, Germany got an equaliser late through a Popp penalty.

Colombia got their winner on the 97th minute though when Vanegas rose highest, and completely unmarked buried her header into the corner.

Germany now need favours elsewhere to top the group, but also are in danger of not securing qualification themselves. 2nd place in this group will likely face France who are tipped to top Group F. A real tough route awaits now for the DFB Frauen.

Although this game took place in Sydney, you’d be forgiven for thinking it might have been in Bogota, as the Colombian support outnumbered the Germans heavily with the national anthem being sung with incredible passion and volume prior to kickoff.

The opening stages of the game were feisty, with German players on the end of a couple elbows and tough tackles from the Colombians.

Lina Magull had the first real chance just after the 20 minute mark when the ball fell to her in the box but a swipe at the air allowed a Colombia clearance. If she connected it was almost certain to be a lead for the DFB Frauen.

There was very little to report as the half wore on with both teams struggling to break eachother down and seemingly waiting for a crack to appear. Germany had the majority of the ball but apart from a Popp volley that she miscued wide, they created little to nothing.

It felt like this game really needed a moment of quality to open it up, and just after half time we were treated to a real piece of footballing magic.

Linda Caicedo picked up the breaking ball just inside the edge of the box, and pulled off a la croqueta skill move to open the space between two enclosing Germans and curled off her right foot into the top corner, absolutely nothing that keeper Frohms could do about it.

Colombia were comfortable defending after taking the lead with Popp on several moments emphasizing the frustration the Germans were feeling. They really struggled to create anything of note and faced a constant disruption to their flow due to Colombian fouling.

The South American side almost made it two with four minutes on the clock. Ramirez saw her cross shot deflected off a German ankle just wide of the far post.

Out of almost nothing, Germany got their leveller. Lena Oberdorf was played through on goal and hacked down by the Colombia keeper, leaving Alex Popp the chance to level the game with 90 seconds left on the clock, and she made no mistake smashing down the middle.

The drama was not done there. With Germany pushing for a late winner it felt like Colombia were trying to hang on, but in the end they were the ones who struck.

Substitute Leicy Santos corner from the right hand side was whipped in and found Manuela Vanegas completely unmarked in the box, who headed down into the bottom right corner to send the strong Colombian contingent into a frenzy.

The post-mortem on the German performance back home will be intense, as questions will be asked as to how they struggled so much to create anything in this game. The side who are 2nd in the world now face a huge task to claim the World Cup title.