World Cup preview: Colombia
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Fresh off the back of their best-ever World Cup showing, Colombia will be looking to build on their quarter-final finish from four years ago in Russia this summer.
James Rodriguez was one of the stars of that tournament, finishing as the Golden Boot winner as well as claiming the Goal of the Tournament award, and he will once again be part of the Colombian squad this summer.
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Indeed, it is something of a golden generation for Colombia, and having already surpassed the achievements of the Carlos Valderrama era, the South Americans will be eager to push the boundaries further still.
Here, Sports Mole assesses their chances at Russia 2018.
GROUP
On paper, Group H looks to be one of the kinder ones at this summer’s World Cup, and Colombia would not have been too displeased to see themselves drawn alongside Japan, Poland and Senegal.
All four teams will fancy their chances of finishing in the top two, but Poland will go into the tournament as the slight favourites to claim top spot with Colombia not far behind.
The meeting between those two sides in Kazan on June 24 could prove crucial, then, although Colombia must also overcome a Japan side that topped their qualifying group and a Senegal team that went unbeaten en route to this summer’s tournament.
COLOMBIA FIXTURES
June 19: Colombia vs. Japan (1pm, Mordovia Arena, Saransk)
June 24: Poland vs. Colombia (7pm, Kazan Arena, Kazan)
June 28: Senegal vs. Colombia (3pm, Cosmos Arena, Samara)
HOW THEY QUALIFIED
There was drama all the way in the South American section of World Cup qualifying, and Colombia were right in the midst of a frantic final day.
With only four points separating six teams heading into the last round of fixtures Colombia knew that they could still finish anywhere from second to seventh, with only four teams qualifying automatically and a fifth going into the playoffs.
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It had been a mixed qualification campaign for Colombia up to that point, with just one win from their opening four games being followed by three successive victories to get them back on track.
However, they then won just one of their next five games before again seemingly steadying the ship with triumphs over Bolivia and Ecuador in March 2017.
The inconsistency continued with draws against Venezuela and Brazil before their place at Russia 2018 was plunged into even greater jeopardy with a 2-1 defeat at home to Paraguay in their penultimate game.
That left them facing an uncertain fate going into the dramatic final day, when they faced fellow qualification hopefuls Peru, but a 1-1 draw in Lima ultimately proved to be enough for both teams to go through as Chile and Paraguay missed out.
RECENT FORM
Colombia will head into their opening group fixture against Japan on the back of a couple of underwhelming goalless draws, failing to break down fellow finalists Australia and Egypt in pre-tournament friendlies.
Prior to that, though, the South Americans picked up a memorable 3-2 win away at France, recovering from a couple of goals down at the Stade de France to inflict a rare home defeat on a much-fancied Les Bleus.
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The 4-0 thrashing of China in November further highlighted Colombia’s ability to find the net when they are on song, but boss Jose Pekerman will need key men Radamel Falcao and Rodriguez to perform better than they did in that most recent stalemate with Egypt.
Going back over the past year, Pekerman’s charges have held Brazil and Spain – the former in a qualifying fixture – while also earning that comeback win in Paris, proving that they have the ability to perform against the tournament’s best sides.
SQUAD
Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Arsenal), Camilo Vargas (Deportivo Cali), Jose Fernando Cuadrado (Once Caldas).
Defenders: Cristian Zapata (Milan), Davinson Sanchez (Tottenham), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven), Oscar Murillo (Pachuca), Frank Fabra (Boca Juniors), Johan Mojica (Girona), Yerry Mina (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Wílmar Barrios (Boca Juniors), Carlos Sanchez (Espanyol), Jefferson Lerma (Levante), Jose Izquierdo (Brighton), James Rodriguez (Bayern Munich), Abel Aguilar (Deportivo Cali), Mateus Uribe (America), Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus).
Forwards: Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Miguel Borja (Palmeiras), Carlos Bacca (Villarreal), Luis Fernando Muriel (Sevilla).
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