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Saturday June 14th - 10:00AM | ||
| vs | GREECE | ||
| FIFA RANKING 5 | FIFA RANKING 10 | ||
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| HOW THEY QUALIFIED |
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| COLOMBIA Colombia began the South American qualifiers well enough, collecting four points from their first two games before defeat at home to Argentina in their third outing spelled the end of Leonel Alvarez’s reign as coach. The arrival of Jose Nestor Pekerman as his replacement represented a turning point for Los Cafeteros in their journey to Brazil 2014, with the Argentinian coach overseeing a run of five wins in their next six games, a sequence that put them firmly on course for the finals. Colombia’s convincing home form at their Barranquilla citadel was central to their successful campaign, as was the balance between attack and defence and their cutting edge up front. No side in the group let in fewer goals than their 13 and only two of their continental rivals scored more than their 27. After clinching a trip to their first world finals since France 1998 on the penultimate matchday, the Colombians eventually took second place, their highest ever finish since the introduction of the current qualifying system. GREECE Greece enjoyed an excellent qualification campaign. Their points total of 25 from their ten games would have been enough to see them through as winners in five of the other eight groups; instead, they had to endure a play-off after losing out on goal difference to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Five of their eight victories were secured with 1-0 scorelines, and it was only against Group G’s eventual winners that the Greeks dropped points after a 0-0 draw at home and a 3-1 defeat in Zenica. In the play-offs, Fernando Santos’ men were pitted against a Romanian outfit that boasted its fair share of FIFA World Cup™ experience, but the UEFA EURO 2004 winners carried their good form into the two-legged tie and advanced comfortably. After a storming 3-1 win at home, a 1-1 draw in Bucharest was enough for Greece to seal their place in Brazil next summer. Three of their four goals came from in-form striker Konstantinos Mitroglou, whose five strikes during qualifying make him Greece’s most potent attacking option. |
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RECENT RESULTS |
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| COLOMBIA | GREECE | ||
| 15/10/13 - PARAGUAY 1-2 COLOMBIA 11/10/13 - COLOMBIA 3-3 CHILE 10/09/13 - URUGUAY 2-0 COLOMBIA |
19/11/13 - ROMANIA 1-1 GREECE 15/11/13 - GREECE 0-0 ROMANIAA 15/10/13 - GREECE 2-0 LIECHENSTEIN |
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| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |||
| COLOMBIA With his sparkling form at Monaco, the prolific Falcao is now generally regarded as Colombia’s main attacking threat. The 25-year-old predator came to prominence at River Plate, first in the youth team and then with the senior side, before moving to Europe in 2009 where he won two Leagues, two Cups, three Super Cups and the UEFA Europa League with Porto, and then added another UEFA Europa League and European Super Cup with Atletico Madrid. As well as Falcao, the Colombians can also count on the experience of defensive duo Mario Yepes and Luis Perea at the back, as well as the creativity of attacking midfielder James Rodriguez and the goalscoring instinct of Teo Gutierrez, a lethal partner for Falcao up front. |
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| GREECE Captain and seasoned midfield general Giorgos Karagounis remains the dominant figure in the Greek line-up but forwards Dimitrios Salpingidis and Mitroglou will certainly have a part to play and provide Santos with a variety of attacking options. He can also call on the experience of the likes of Theofanis Gekas and Giorgos Samaras, which will be key when the tournament begins. Incidentally, though, despite their array of attacking talent, it was Greece’s defence that stole the show in qualifying, laying the foundation for success by conceding just four times in ten matches. |
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