Dec. 13, 2017
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Following a superb four-year run at Vanderbilt, defender Cristina De Zeeuw hopes to keep her soccer career going. De Zeeuw is on her way to South America as she was invited to take part in the Colombia Senior National Team camp.
“It has always been a dream of mine to play at the highest level and I finally have that opportunity,” said De Zeeuw. “This means the world to me considering I’ve been playing my whole life and soccer has always been my thing and a part of me. It is really cool that I will get to represent my heritage and my mom’s home country also. This is the first time I have done anything like this so I’m a little nervous because I’m not sure what to expect, but very excited to have the opportunity to play with some great players down there.”
This will be De Zeeuw’s first appearance with the national team after she applied for dual citizenship a year ago. Her Colombian descent comes from her mom who was born in Barranquilla, Colombia and moved to the United States when she was 20.
“Tina has been passionate about her playing career and aspirations to play beyond college since I met her,” said head coach Darren Ambrose. “She has talked about what an honor it would be to represent her mom’s country and has worked hard to make that happen. It is really exciting to see a player achieve a goal they set out a couple of years ago. I am hopeful for her that she makes the most of the opportunity and we would love to see her play in a World Cup for Colombia and representing Vanderbilt.”
De Zeeuw and many other hopefuls are looking to make the final squad at the end of the camp and participate with the National Team in the upcoming 2018 Copa America Femenina. 10 teams from CONMEBOL will take part in the tournament in hopes of locking up a bid for the 2019 FIFA World Cup, which will be held in France.
Colombia has been runner-up to Brazil in the past two Copa America’s. The top two teams from Copa America gain an automatic bid to the World Cup while the third place team would compete in a playoff with a team from CONCACAF.
De Zeeuw would not be the first Commodore to compete for the Colombian National Team. Lina Granados was called up to the national team just before the 2015 World Cup in Canada. She was the first active Vanderbilt player to represent a country in the World Cup in school history. Colombia made it to the Round of 16 for the first time in history before falling to the United States 2-0.
The camp began on Dec. 9 and will run all the way to Dec. 21. Once final cuts are made, the team will compete in Copa America Femenina starting on April 4 in Chile.
