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Los Cafeteros ended their 16-year absence from the summer extravaganza
with a commanding 3-0 victory over the Greeks.
Colombia shocked a slow and
out-of-sorts Greek side, 3-0, in front of a raucous house in Belo Horizonte.
Goals from Pablo Armero, Teofilo Gutierrez and James Rodriguez sent the overwhelmingly
pro-Colombian crowd at the Mineirao into rapture and put the South Americans
firmly on course to get out of Group C. It was Colombia's first win at the
World Cup since 1998.
One would have thought that with the
injured Radamel Falcao out of the Cup went Colombia's hopes. True, this was a game
against a notoriously underwhelming Greek side -- but if one can take any
indications from it, Los Cafeteros could be pretty tough to handle. Showing
speed, guile and no small amount of invention, Falcao's absence actually opened
up Colombia's midfield, and Victor Ibarbo in particular was a revelation.
against a notoriously underwhelming Greek side -- but if one can take any
indications from it, Los Cafeteros could be pretty tough to handle. Showing
speed, guile and no small amount of invention, Falcao's absence actually opened
up Colombia's midfield, and Victor Ibarbo in particular was a revelation.
It took only five minutes for a slick
and fleet Colombian attack to carve open the Greek backline. Juan Cuadrado, who
would prove to be a handful all day long, found Armero in the area, and the
West Ham player sliced a shot at the net. Orestic Karnezis might have had it
covered -- but back Konstantinos Manolas stuck a boot out and redirected the
shot past his own keeper.
The goal foiled any plans Greece
might have had of parking the bus, but they were unable to easily break through
Colombia's seething midfield. Panagiotis Kone had the only chance
of note for the Greeks in the first-half late, when he was slipped a yard of
space by Carlos Sanchez, and let fly with a shot to the top corner that keeper
David Ospina parried away.
of note for the Greeks in the first-half late, when he was slipped a yard of
space by Carlos Sanchez, and let fly with a shot to the top corner that keeper
David Ospina parried away.
Headlines
Teo doubled Colombia's advantage on
the hour mark with a fine volley off a James Rodriguez corner kick. Rodriguez's
set-piece whizzed in between three rooted Greek defenders, allowing Abel
Aguilar to volley it on and past Karnezis for Teo to lob home. The ball didn't
touch the ground once, and as Teo spun away in a dash towards the sideline,
Vasilis Torosidis kicked his upright in disgust.
Rodriguez added the capper in
stoppage. With the Greeks napping -- and Kostas Katsouranis left on his seat --
Cuadrado slipped a cheeky backheel through for Rodriguez to blast home. It was
an emphatic coda on what had been an all-around dazzling game.
For much of the game, it was
Colombia's front four making all the noise. The Greek defenders, caught out
early, produced a series of late, well-timed tackles to break up counters and
the Colombians were often guilty of making one too many pass. While the Greeks
managed a flurry after the break, the storyline remained much the same: James
Rodriguez stung Karnezis'€™ palms on the 50th minute; most of the
Greek attempts resulted in easy takes for Ospina.
The Greeks' problem was that they
found a wall of yellow-shirts 18-to-30 yards out from goal. Although they made
the occasional flank raid, too much of their possession was wasted in trying to
beat one too many defender.
Theofanis Gekas tried to break the
game open single-handedly in the 63rd when he unleashed a fierce
shot from six yards -- only to see it carom back off Ospina's bar. It was a
laughable miss, and he was almost immediately subbed off, his visible
frustration summed up the Greeks' day.
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The path doesn't get any easier for
the Greeks: they next face a Japanese side that has the power to carve
opponents apart. Colombia face what is perhaps the toughest other team in the
group in Cote D’Ivoire at Brasilia, and a win would almost certainly put them
into the next round.
Notable also was that American
referee Mark Geiger had a solid day out at the helm of a mixed crew. Referees
have been under heavy scrutiny so far at this Cup, but the MLS veteran had a
blameless match, much to the relief of FIFA.
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