The Colombian national team players celebrate the first goal in the 2-1 victory over Paraguay, at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. / GETTY IMAGES
Photo: Getty Images via AFP – LOGAN RIELY
The first thing a team must have to aspire to be a tournament champion is hierarchy, that ability to impose its style, manage the rhythms of a match and demonstrate its superiority, even when it does not play well. And that is what Colombia is getting used to doing. This Monday, in its debut in the 2024 Copa América, it beat the Paraguayan team and made millions of Colombians dream of a good presentation in the United States.
The tricolor began to win from the formal events. Nearly 50 thousand compatriots sang the national anthem furiously and dressed the stands of the NRG Stadium in Houston in yellow, where Néstor Lorenzo’s team was as local as in the Metropolitano de Barranquilla.
The national team came out to impose conditions, but found a rival standing well behind, compact. That is why it was important to be patient, circulate the ball and calmly create spaces. There was no way to enter the rival area until James Rodríguez, like so many other times dressed in yellow, solved the problem. After a recovery on the opposite field, John Arias handed the ball to the 10, who with a couple of movements arranged the ball for his magical left foot and launched a perfect cross for Daniel Muñoz to arrive from the opposite side and with a header he opened the goal. scoreboard at half an hour of play.
Until then, Colombia’s only dangerous play had been a mid-distance shot by Richard Ríos, also after recovering a ball in the opponent’s field. Paraguay, which was betting only on the counterattack and the speed of Julio César Enciso and Miguel Almirón, came close a couple of times, one of them with some danger, when in a free kick Camilo Vargas had to push himself to clear Enciso’s shot .
Before the break came the tricolor’s second goal. In a side charge, James enabled Jefferson Lerma, who with a subtle touch with his head sent the ball to the back of the net. The best options emerged from the captain’s left foot. Never in history has a player gained so much potential by putting on the national team shirt, like James Rodríguez.
The Guarani reaction in the complement was predictable. Paraguay came down on Colombia with all their strength and effort and scored, through Enciso. But that was when the tricolor showed its caste and regained control of the game. He took possession of the ball again and began to process the result, trying to score another goal, but above all, preventing the rival from coming at him.
The national team did not generate as many scoring chances as in previous matches, but it was a fair winner. The players showed character and maturity to close the game and start the Copa América 2024 on the right foot, which was the priority. The team even recovered from an early injury suffered by John Lucumí, replaced by Yerry Mina.
In the Copa América history against Paraguay, Colombia took advantage. They have won six of twelve duels, in five the winner was the Guaraní team and once they were tied.
The tricolor, with Néstor Lorenzo, completed 21 games undefeated, with 16 wins and five draws, 40 goals for and 15 against, for a performance of 84.1%. On Friday, starting at 5:00 pm, they will face Costa Rica, in Phoenix, for the second date of Group D, which will close on Tuesday, July 2 against Brazil, in Santa Clara.
