Columbia

Published on February 2017 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 67 | Comments: 0 | Views: 629
of 1
Download PDF   Embed   Report

Comments

Content


Colombia made an impressive start to their Group C campaign as an early Pablo Ar
mero strike set them on the way to a comfortable win over Greece.
The Napoli defender rolled in Juan Cuadrado's fifth-minute cut-back.
Teofilo Gutierrez, leading Colombia's attack in the absence of the injured Radam
el Falcao, then touched in from a James Rodriguez corner after the break.
Theofanis Gekas headed Greece's best chance against the bar, before Rodriguez st
eered in a late third.
Colombia celebrate their opening goal Colombia's 3-0 win was their best result i
n World Cups, in their 14th match
It was a very solid showing from Colombia, who are looking to progress beyond th
e last 16 of a World Cup for the first time after finishing runners-up to Argent
ina in South American qualifying.
But the pressure is on attacking talents such as Gutierrez and Rodriguez to prod
uce goals after Monaco forward Falcao, their nine-goal top scorer in the qualifi
cation campaign, was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.
He did his bit to help his compatriots by offering hugs and moral support to his
team-mates in the tunnel before the match.
And cheered on by the majority of the crowd at Estadio Mineirao in Belo Horizont
e, Jose Pekerman's side responded with a goal inside the first five minutes.
Greece: Not-so-lightning
Greece have conceded in the opening seven minutes of their first match in each o
f their three World Cup finals appearances.
They went a goal down after two minutes of a 4-0 defeat against Argentina in Bos
ton at the 1994 tournament, and in the seventh minute as they lost 2-0 to South
Korea in Port Elizabeth at South Africa 2010.
The creative Cuadrado rolled the ball across the penalty area from the right, an
d Armero - who spent the second half of last season on loan at West Ham - scored
only his second goal in 54 international appearances with a shot that trundled
in off Greece centre-back Kostas Manolas.
It was a far from spectacular goal - and television replays showed three Colombi
a players were standing in offside positions - but the left-back and his team-ma
tes celebrated with an eye-catching dance in front of their bench.
The craft of £37.6m Monaco midfielder Rodriguez and pace of Cagliari forward Victo
r Ibarbo threatened repeatedly to cause further damage to the Greece backline, a
lthough they had to be patient before the rewards came.
And Pekerman's defence had to survive some difficult moments themselves, with Pa
nagiotis Kone unable to take either of two chances that came his way.
Kone should have equalised within seconds of Armero's opener, but scuffed wide f
rom 15 yards after former Celtic striker Georgios Samaras had cut the ball back
to him from the left.
The Bologna midfielder went close again just before half-time when his 20-yard s
teered shot was pushed away athletically by keeper David Ospina after Gekas's ch
arge into the penalty area was held up and Samaras worked the ball loose.

Sponsor Documents

Or use your account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Forgot your password?

Or register your new account on DocShare.tips

Hide

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link to create a new password.

Back to log-in

Close