Colombia VS Uruguay

The excellent South American contingent will be depleted as the winners of Group C meet the runners-up of Group D. Both teams will be without their talismans, but Colombia have been without Falcao for a while whilst Luis Suarez has departed suddenly and controversially.

COLOMBIA

Having picked up 9 points in their group, the Colombians are looking quite comfortable coming into this match. The squad looks settled and solid, and they have proved their creativity is a match for anybody. They are quick on the break and despite making 8 changes to their starting XI against Japan, they trounced the East Asian team 4-1.

Coach Jose Peckerman believes that his team are “difficult” to face, although it may just be managing expectations. The squad is young, fit and raring to go, and will do some damage.

PROBABLE STARTING XI

(4-2-3-1)   
    Ospina
          Zapata—————————-Yepes
  Zuniga———————————————————————-Armero
    Aguilar———————————Sanchez
    Cuadrado———————Rodriguez———————Ibarbo
  Gutierrez

Colombia have scored 9 goals and won 3 games this year, bettering their previous World Cup record by far. They have very fast counter-attacks and are very fond of using their wings, as overlapping full-backs Pablo Armero and Zuniga pin oppenents back when they are in possession.

PLAYER TO WATCH

James Rodriguez
Having started the tournament a little bit slowly, the Monaco star has now scored 3 goals and assisted 3 more in the 225 minutes he has played, averaging at a contribution of a goal in each half. He has the best record in Colombia at a World Cup, and will need to be tightly-marked by Diego Godin.

URUGUAY

There is a very good reason why the furore around Luis Suarez has grown so much – he is easily Uruguay’s best player. He has missed 2 World Cup games for Uruguay (incidentally, both were for foul play – the first for handling the ball against Ghana and the second for biting Chiellini) and they have lost both. They were beaten by Costa Rica in his absence and they beat Italy and England when he returned.

Despite the national display of bravado, the player has been rightly banned by FIFA and the tournament will be worse off for his incredible actionsand the loss of his terrific footballing skill.

PROBABLE STARTING XI

(4-3-1-2)
    Muslera
          Godin—————————Gimenez
  Pereira—————————————————————Caceres
    Rodriguez——————-Arevalo—————-Gonzalez
    Lodeiro
    Forlan————————————Cavani

With their star man gone, Uruguay will have to re-consider their strategy. They will look to weather Colombia’s attacks and hit them hard on the break, so we may see a lot of end-to-end counter-attacks. The impressive Diego Godin will have to pull his team out of trouble again; his last 3 goals have all been massive ones. Forlan and Cavani will need to be at their most lethal and set-pieces will be key for them.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Diego Forlan

Having been the star of the last World Cup, the Uruguayan striker has looked rather shunned this time around, but with Luis Suarez gone, he is back and will have a chance to show just how good he is. His set-piece delivery and finishing ability will be called into action, and he can make the difference for his nation.