It is good news every time people talk about the Colombian National Team for about two years, they are illusions and the highest expectations are realities.
Néstor Lorenzo’s team, which has accumulated 24 games without defeat (the longest unbeaten streak in the world today and the one that is only three wins away from being a record in the country), measures its strength this Friday, at 5:00 pm ( Colombian time) with Costa Rica, which has just won a 0-0 draw against Brazil, no less.
That tightened group D of the Copa América 2024 and may play to the benefit of Colombia, as long as it adds three more points and can certify its classification to the quarterfinals with 6 points, after the 2-1 victory against Paraguay in the debut
There are many differences: in terms of payroll, the Colombian team is worth 282.9 million euros compared to 21.93 million for its rival; there are four clashes in the history of matches, three of which were won by the Tricolors; not to mention the current situation, with Lorenzo’s two-year process against Alfaro’s one of just a few months… it doesn’t seem like such an even duel. Although that, in the end, is determined by the ball.
This is how Colombia arrives
The only new thing in the team of James, Díaz, Arias and company is that Jhon Lucumí was unable to recover from a muscle problem he suffered against Paraguay and will not be available for this second outing. Complicated for an undisputed starter.
That is why Lorenzo, who is not a fan of making radical changes, will have to change the back line and choose between Carlos Cuesta and Yerry Mina, the latter who replaced Lucumí against the Paraguayans and had an acceptable performance. Thus, the defense will return to the traditional Cauca one, with Dávinson Sánchez.
Afterwards, as a team that wins is not touched, they would remain the same as the first outing in Houston, where there were high peaks of performance, regardless of how short the score may seem.
Vargas continues in goal and the full-backs Mojica and Muñoz, Richard Ríos remains as Jefferson Lerma’s partner in the middle because it is the safest duo so far and Uribe would continue to be an alternative; and the attack is not discussed with Díaz, Arias, Borré and the orchestra director, James.
The goal is to not lose our heads, to be very mobile in order to find small cracks in a Costa Rican block that is firm and very fixed on its goal, and to show off the effectiveness of this Lorenzo era to take advantage of what little is left, assuming that scoring is everyone’s job, not just the attackers’.
Probable lineups
Colombia: Vargas; Muñoz, Sánchez, Mina, Mojica; Ríos, Uribe, Arias, Rodríguez; Borré and Díaz.
Costa Rica: Sequeira; Mitchell, Vargas, Calvo; Bran Flores, Galo, Quiros, Lassiter, Aguilera; Zamora and Ugalde.
Stadium: University of Phoenix, Arizona
Time: 5:00 pm (Colombian time)
TV: Caracol, RCN, DSports
Online: www.futbolred.com
