THE Women’s World Cup was rocked last night after Colombian teen sensation Linda Caicedo collapsed in a training session – with major fears for her condition.
Caicedo, 18, completed a remarkable World Cup scoring “hat-trick” when she netted in her side’s opening win over South Korea.
The teenager has also scored, this season, at both the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups.
All this, incredibly, just SIX MONTHS after winning a two year battle with cancer.
But the joy of Caicedo’s World Cup bow was overshadowed by her collapse at Colombia’s training base on the outskirts of Sydney.
Caicedo was running with the ball on a dribble when she suddenly stopped and began clutching the left side of her chest.
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She then tried to sit down but within seconds had keeled over, seemingly unconscious.
Colombian medical staff rushed over as a sense of panic overwhelmed the camp, with terrified team-mates fearing the worst.
With concern growing, an ambulance was summoned and swiftly arrived.
Caicedo was unconscious for at least 90 seconds as medics and team-mates rushed to the scene.
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Thankfully, Caicedo was able to regain consciousness by the time she was placed on a stretcher, ferried into the ambulance and off to a local hospital.
The entire session was unsurprisingly cancelled as team-mates looked on, some of them struggling to contain their emotions at her condition.
Media at the session were immediately asked to leave the site, with Colombian staff explaining: “We cannot give any more details – and we want to avoid any more confusion.”
Later last night, a Colombian FA medical staff member claimed: “Linda is very tired.
“What happened was just a symptom of all the stress and physical demands. She is well and all is back to normal.”
But the scare left her team-mates, who are due to play Germany in Sydney on Sunday, in a state of disarray.
Caicedo was diagnosed with ovarian cancer at the age of 15 in February 2020, just before the pandemic struck.
She needed surgery to remove a tumour and underwent six months of chemotherapy before she was able to return to the football pitch.
Caicedo explained: “The truth is that I was very young and maybe I didn’t quite understand what was happening to me.”
Mum Herlinda recalled: “Every time we would take Linda to the hospital, she would cry, and she would ask the doctors to please tell her the truth, if she would be able to play football again. That’s all she wanted to know.”
Her recovery to full fitness stunned many.
Incredibly, she was able to make a move from Deportivo Cali to Real Madrid.
She played a key role in both the youth tournaments, the top scorer in the under-17 event as Colombia reached the final before losing to Spain while they made the last eight of the under-20 competition.
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Her goal against Korea was the ultimate good news story.
But now those smiles have turned to tears and fears.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
