SYDNEY - Colombia's run to the Women's World Cup quarter-finals may have taken many by surprise, but for coach Nelson Abadia it is the product of years of building.
The South Americans face European champions England on Saturday in Sydney and no matter what happens, this has been a breakthrough moment for Colombian women's football.
It is only the national team's third World Cup and they failed to qualify for the previous edition in 2019, when Abadia was also in charge.
But Colombia did not panic and now they are reaping the benefits with a place in the last eight for the first time.
Forward Linda Caicedo has been one of the stars of the World Cup and in the 1-0 win over Jamaica in the last 16 Abadia also gave a start to defender Ana Guzman. Both are 18.
"Linda, as well as Ana Maria, came into the national (youth) team when they were 12 years old," said Abadia.
"We've been growing together since they were 12 years old and stimulating their growth into what they are today."
The 67-year-old Abadia has been involved with the women's national team for nearly a decade, first as technical assistant to coach Fabian Taborda.
In 2017 he was promoted to the top job and has made a point of working closely with the national youth teams.
In 2019 Colombia's women footballers won gold at the Pan American Games for the first time and they were runners-up at last year's Copa America, losing the final to Brazil but qualifying for the World Cup.
Caicedo and Guzman were part of the team which topped their group at last year's U-20 World Cup only to be defeated by regional rivals Brazil in the last 16.
"We started with that process since they were 12 years old, and then at the U-20 World Cup they were 17 years old," Abadia said.
"So it's been since 2017 that we started this renewal process."