Sophomore Lina Granados has been invited by the Colombian Soccer Federation to be part of the U-20 Colombian Women’s National Team that will represent Colombia during the 2013 Bolivarian Games held in Peru this month.
Granados, a computer science major from Ashburn, Va., and a forward on the Vanderbilt women’s soccer team, has taken the fall semester off in order to train in Colombia and compete with the team.
“I play soccer for Vanderbilt, but being born in Bogota has allowed me to play my part for the Colombian U-20 Women’s National Soccer Team since I was 15. Now, at 19, I find myself facing my last chance to help Colombia qualify for the World Cup,” Granados said.
Granados played for Colombian U20 squad at the South American Women’s Championship in spring 2012, recording two assists in seven games.
At Vanderbilt in 2012 Granados appeared in 11 games off the bench as a freshman. She netted her first career goal in Vanderbilt’s season-opening victory over UT-Martin. She added an assist the following weekend at Oklahoma State, and she recorded a shot in a 4-2 win at Mississippi State.
“One of the first things you want in a forward is the desire to defend and work hard to get the ball back for your team deep in the other team’s end. That’s the first thing you notice about Lina. Her work rate is tremendous. She’s always defending and pressuring the other team’s back line. Lina is a great attacking personality,” said Derek Greene, head coach of the Vanderbilt women’s soccer team.
Once the U-20 Colombia team completes the Bolivarian tournament, they will be working toward the South American championship, which gives three teams spots in the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup to be held in Canada in 2014.
The 2013 Bolivarian Games, Nov. 16-30 in Trujillo, Peru, will be the first time the games will play host to athletes from 11 countries rather than the usual six members of the Bolivarian Sports Organization. About 5,000 athletes are expected to participate in 43 sports.