Welcome to the second of today’s previews for this evening’s FIFA World Cup knockout action! Check out our preview of Brazil-Chile here, before reading on to see our views on the other all South-American clash – Columbia versus Uruguay.
Colombia:
How they’ve done so far:
Colombia 2 – 1 Ivory Coast, Colombia 3 – 0 Greece, Colombia 4 – 1 Japan.
What they’ve done well so far:
Well they’ve won every game so that’s a big plus; they’ve scored heavily too despite the absence of Falcao so their confidence will be sky-high going into this game. Obviously then it goes without saying that they’ve looked very fluid offensively, James Rodriguez in particular has been in blisteringly good form, involved in five of his side’s nine goals so far this tournament.
Where they’ve struggled so far:
Honestly, they haven’t struggled too much in any department so far in this tournament. But then again I don’t think anyone expected them, with the company they have in this group, to struggle much up to this point. That could be a problem for them in this game if complacency begins to creep in because, despite the absence of Luis Suarez, Uruguay are still definitely a team to be taken seriously.
Key Player:
James Rodriguez. One of the commentary teams after his goal versus Japan said that if this guy was Brazilian or Argentinian then people would be losing their minds about how good he is. Like Sanchez for Chile, this guy is involved in everything Colombia do. Opposing coaches will be working hard to keep him quiet but no one has managed it so far!
Will they progress?:
The fact that Luis Suarez is missing will be a massive plus for the Colombians; despite his issues with his knee he was still a huge threat. Uruguay haven’t looked too clever defensively in any of their games so far so Rodriguez and co. will definitely be up for testing their resolve in that regard. On current form, the Colombians should go through but it wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the tournament so far if it didn’t go that way, would it?
Uruguay:
How they’ve done so far:
Uruguay 1 – 3 Costa Rica, Uruguay 2 – 1 England, Uruguay 1 – 0 Italy.
What they’ve done well:
Well they’ve been masters of opportunism so far. They didn’t have the greatest game in the world against England but Luis Suarez was able to take the two chances he was somewhat gifted by the English defence. They weren’t great against Italy either but were again able to take their chances and knock the 2006 champions out.
Where they’ve struggled:
They’ve not had a properly good game yet. Costa Rica took them apart, England gifted them the victory and Italy had ten men for 30 minutes. They’ve obviously done well when the opportunities have presented themselves because they’ve managed to advance into the next round but they’re going to need to do much better across the board if they’re to advance any further.
Key Player:
Edinson Cavani. The pressure on him now that Suarez is out of the tournament will be immense. We haven’t seen the best of him so far as, like at PSG, he has had to occupy the wider positions as opposed to the central positions he’d prefer to find himself in. The stage is now set for him to take this team forward: he has a hell of a large pair of boots to fill – we’ll see whether or not he can pull it off on Saturday.
Will they progress?:
Based on what we’ve seen so far, they don’t have much hope. The last time Uruguay played without Suarez, Costa Rica destroyed them but similarly Colombia haven’t played anyone with the quality of Uruguay when they can get it together. Again, there seems to be a clear favourite in this match but whether or not that’s the way it’ll go who knows. Stick with us to find out!