May 5, 2015
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Over the last five years, the Colombian Football Federation has familiarized itself with and opened doors for Vanderbilt redshirt sophomore Lina Granados.
When she was only 15, she was invited to try out for the home country’s U-20 team. Two years later, at the age of 17, she made the team and competed in the 2012 South American U-20 Women’s Championship. Then in 2013, she took a year off from Vanderbilt and won a gold medal in the yellow Colombian jersey at the Bolivian Games.
Twice since then she has been asked to work out with the full national team. So obviously, Colombian soccer officials think highly of her skill and talent.
Still, Granados admits she was nervous when she flew to Colombia over spring break to try out for the national team. More than 30 players were there, and Granados was moved around to a different position — left fullback. She feared she was being used as a filler player. She hoped she wasn’t drifting into the crowd of a larger pool of candidates to the point where she wasn’t standing out.
Quite the contrary: the 20-year-old Granados caught the attention of the coaching staff once again. Granados has been named to Colombia’s 35-player provisional roster for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The roster will be trimmed to 23 players by the end of the month as the 24-team tournament begins on June 6 in Canada.
“It is definitely a relief to get that call and to know the coaches are still looking at me,” Granados said. “I was hoping (the coaches) would see me as an adult, not as a U-20 kid. I was really excited about the coaches seeing progress and seeing me more as a mature player. I really don’t have a lot of words to describe how it feels to still be able to represent my country and have the opportunity to play in the World Cup or the Olympics, which are easily the biggest stages for women’s soccer. I’m just incredibly blessed, and just really happy that I’m put in this position and that I have the support.”
Granados, who was born in Colombia but has called Ashburn, Va., home since she was five, has practiced with the Colombian national team twice in the last nine months.
“I am really excited for Lina,” Vanderbilt coach Darren Ambrose said. “We raised the bar for her this spring and she responded very well. She has great technical ability and a flare to go with it. Representing your country is the biggest honor in a player’s life and I really hope she works her way into the final roster for the World Cup.”
Granados was quick to credit Darren Ambrose for boosting her confidence before she tried out.
Though Ambrose has been on the job just three months, Granados said he has already had a huge impact on her game. She said the fact he started her twice during the spring season — the first two starts of her Vanderbilt career — shows he believes in her.
“I’m really happy with Coach Darren. He has been a huge support and a huge confidence booster,” she said. “He’s definitely helped me a lot with just keeping on the right track and focusing on what I have to improve to get better. I’m just really happy I have that support. He has instilled a lot of my confidence in me. He says he expects a lot of me. When I’m put with that type of pressure, I tend to do a lot better.”
Last summer, she served as a practice player for the national team as it prepared for the 2014 Copa America Femenina — an international tournament in South America. Though she didn’t travel to the tournament to compete with the team, which finished second and qualified for the World Cup, the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2016 Olympics in the process, she was added to the official training roster.
In March, she returned to Colombia, and spent 10 days trying out for the national team.
“It was like any other experience, it is very incredible to put on the uniform and just playing with girls that I know have been in the World Cup and girls I’ve looked up to growing up,” she said. “It is really cool being on the same field as them and being seen as an equal to them. These girls are very supportive. Everyone there has the same mentality that they’re not going to do this individually. If they’re going to make a splash at the World Cup, they’re going to be doing it as a team. It is a very supportive environment. Everyone pushes each other to the limits. When I got the call saying I was on the provisional roster that was just amazing.”
The Colombian coaches must finalize the World Cup roster 10 days before their first game. As of right now, Granados is not one of the final 23. She could be called up if someone gets hurt or ill.
Since she is one of the youngest players on the team, she says her coaches want her to get more international tournament experience — outside of South America — before making that next step. She is aiming to compete in the Pan American Games, also in Canada, from July 10-26. She hopes this will help her chances to make Colombia’s Olympic team for the Summer Games next year in Brazil.
