Colombia vs Uruguay preview
Uruguay have come through the ‘Group of Death’, but at the cost of losing their best player. Suarez’s bite on Chiellini’s shoulder has resulted in the Uruguayan facing a ban of four months from any football related activity. Suarez will not be representing the Celeste for nine international games, and without their talisman leading the line, the job only gets tougher for coach Oscar Tabarez as he seeks to emulate or better their Semi-final finish in South Africa.
But when it comes to getting the job done without their star player, he needn’t look any further than their high-flying South American opponents. Colombia were dealt a major blow after striker Radamel Falcao was ruled out of the tournament. Colombian manager Jose Pekerman chose Teofilo Gutierrez to lead line and switched to a fluid 4-2-3-1 formation that has managed to get the best out of the talents of Monaco’s James Rodriguez and Fiorentina’s Juan Cuadrado.
Colombia have been one of the most impressive teams of the World Cup so far, outscoring Greece, Japan and Ivory Coast by a score of 9-2, Rodriguez unsurprisingly at the heart of much of their attacking play. So, while Pekerman would have liked to have Falcao in his lineup, the absence of the Monaco striker has done little to derail Colombia’s World Cup campaign. The same, however, cannot be said for Uruguay. He was bitterly missed in their 3-1 defeat to Costa Rica, and but for him, it could have been England taking on Colombia and not Uruguay. And while he couldn’t repeat his two-goal salvo against Italy, his overall performance had the Italian defenders sweating for much of the game.
If Suarez wasn’t the idiosyncratic, crazed talent that he is, Uruguay would have been hot favorites to come through this match. But Colombia on the other hand have goals in them, and Uruguay will probably need Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan, who is set to replace Suarez in the starting lineup, to step up.
Colombia vs Uruguay Match Facts:
- Uruguay won their first five World Cup games against South American teams but have lost their last two (v Brazil in 1970 and Argentina in 1986).
- The last nine encounters between Colombia and Uruguay have produced 32 goals; an average of 3.6 per game.
- Colombia have reached the last 16 of the World Cup for the second time in their history after 1990 when they were knocked out by Cameroon (1-2 after extra-time).
- James Rodriguez has scored three goals and delivered two assists in 225 minutes at this World Cup, an average of a goal / assist every 45 minutes. He’s already been involved in more goals than any other Colombian in World Cup history (5).
- Rodriguez has scored in each of his last five games for Colombia.
- Luis Suarez has missed two games at the World Cup since 2010. Both were defeats for Uruguay (Netherlands in the 2010 semi-final and Costa Rica in the 2014 group stages).
Facts compiled from uk.eurosport.yahoo.com
Colombia vs Uruguay Predicted Lineups:
Colombia: Ospina; Zuniga, Zapata, Yepes, Armero; Sánchez, Aguilar; Cuadrado, Rodríguez , Martinez; Gutiérrez.
Uruguay: Muslera; Cácares, Godín, Giménez, Pereira; González, Rios, Rodríguez; Lodeiro; Forlán, Cavani.
Colombia vs Uruguay Prediction:
Suarez is on a four month long hiatus from football to attend hunger management classes, and his Uruguayan teammates may well follow him out of Brazil. Tabarez won’t mind sitting back and inviting Colombia at them. But if Rodriguez and co. wear their shooting boots to the Maracana tonight, they should run out winners.
2-1 to Colombia!