Copa America 2011 Preview: Colombia Have The Talent, Do They Have The Bottle?

Rarely, over the last couple of decades, have Colombian teams lacked talent. The most famous failing of the team is the 1994 World Cup, in which a world class Colombian side was upset by the United States, resulting in the tragic murder of Andres Escobar, but it is only their most high profile failing. The Colombian national team has underachieved at every single major tournament except for Copa America 2001, which they hosted and won. Many consider this victory tainted, as Argentina did not participate in the tournament due to safety concerns.

Colombia has a new generation of stars, and they are perhaps the most talented since the 1994 World Cup team. Radamel Falcao has been unbelievable over the last two seasons for FC Porto, culminating in him setting the scoring record for European competition in one season and winning the Europa League. He won’t have to do it alone, though, as all of Hugo Rodallega, Jackson Martinez and Dayro Moreno are excellent players.

Falcao’s Porto teammate Fredy Guarin will be a key fixture in a Colombia midfield that is very talented, but also very thin. Guarin has been a national team member for some time, but struggled to get playing time at Porto before Raul Meireles moved on to Liverpool. Last season he finally broke through with the Porto first team, playing a number of games in both the league and the Europa League. His play and his combinations with the forwards will be key for Colombia.

Los Cafeteros don’t seem to have settled on a formation, leaving us to wonder whether they will be a team who adjusts their shape based on which players are in form and who they’re playing. the team has used a 4-3-3, a 4-4-2, and a 4-4-1-1 shape in their friendly matches this year and they have the personnel to play all of them. However, they’re loaded at striker, their strikers are all able to play wide and in the middle, and they’re thin in midfield in general and especially when it comes to two-way wingers. So, this would seem to point to a likely 4-3-3 shape for Colombia.

They open their campaign against Costa Rica’s B team, and anything less than an emphatic win will get the alarm bells ringing in Colombia. Their second match is against Argentina, who they are expected to lose to. Their third match is against Bolivia, which should also be a blowout win. Anything that strays from the norm would be an absolute shock in this group, seeing as Argentina are the favorites to win the tournament while Boliva and Costa Rica are almost certainly the worst and second worst teams in the tournament.

Colombia are a solid team with some serious talent, but it’s unlikely we’ll know anything about them until the quarterfinals hit. They should beat Bolivia and Costa Rica comfortably while losing to Argentina, and anything deviating from that would be downright shocking. In the quarterfinals, we’ll find out who Colombia really are.

GK David Ospina LB Pablo Armero CB Mario Yepes CB Cristian Zapata RB Juan Zuñiga CM Abel Aguilar CM Carlos Sanchez AM Fredy Guarin LF Dayro Moreno RF Hugo Rodallega CF Radamel Falcao

Radamel Falcao - The single season European competition scoring record speaks for itself. Falcao has been absolutely stunning this season for Porto, and if Colombia has any chance of taking down one of South America’s big two - or the second tier of Chile and Uruguay for that matter - Falcao probably needs to be at his best. He is yet to duplicate his club scoring record for his country, but this tournament would be a great place to start.

How far Colombia goes is probably entirely dependent on their quarterfinal draw. They should take second in their group, and who knows after that. Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile could be their potential quarterfinal opponents. All three would probably be favored against Colombia, but they’re talented enough to make it to the semifinals. However, it will likely be lights out when they run into Argentina or Brazil.