Being close neighbours, Brazil and Colombia know each other a little too well for comfort. There are really no secrets between the two as they have played innumerable matches against each other. This is the Golden Generation of Colombian footballers, and they have made a great comeback in the World Cup for the first time since the 1998 debacle and the murder of footballer Andres Escobar, which had devastated their national football team for almost a generation.
This is a new Colombian football team, and Brazilians will fully expect the exciting Colombian team led by the brilliant James Rodriguez to put up a fight. A loss at the hands of their smaller neighbor would be unacceptable to the football crazy nation of 200 million people.
Colombia’s progress in this tournament has been far easier than that of Brazil’s. The Colombians have won every match that they have played in the World Cup, and done so with great style and in comfort. Colombia have an excellent combination of youth and experience that has won them every single match in this tournament quite comfortably. Colombia’s central defensive pair of Mario Yepes and Christian Zapata has a combined age of 72! But the veteran duo hasn’t let age affect their performance.
The Colombian midfield is led by a young genius, James Rodriguez. Rodriguez is already the leading goal scorer in the tournament with 5 goals, which is astonishing as he is a midfielder. His sensational goal against Uruguay, a brilliant volley from outside the 30-yard box that rocketed into the net, is by far the best goal of the World Cup. But Rodriguez is not a mere goal scorer. He is also the creator of every Colombian attack, and provider of every assist, besides scoring goals himself. In other words, he is the complete footballer. If Brazil doesn’t devise an effective strategy to combat the threat from Rodriguez, they may as well kiss the World Cup goodbye!
The biggest concern for Brazil is the injury cloud over Neymar. Brazil’s favourite player, the 22-year old superstar of Japanese descent, Neymar Junior is at the heart of every Brazilian attack, so much so that he carries the hopes and aspirations of an entire nation on his young shoulders. It would be a devastating blow to the home team if he isn’t fully fit. Neymar has completely lived up to the hype so far, and already has 4 goals to his name, the same as his Barcelona teammate and great rival, Lionel Messi. While there can be no doubt that Neymar is indeed a great player, he still has a long way to go before he can be spoken about in the same breath as Messi or Christiano Ronaldo.
Rest of the Brazilian team is okay, without being exceptional. Hulk, Oscar and Willian are very good players, without being world class. The defence led by captain Thiago Silva is better at attack than at defending, and were exposed by a quick passing team like Chile. David Luiz in particular, is prone to lapses of concentration. Marcelo and Dani Alves are brilliant going forward and are always a threat to any defence.
But the most mysterious thing about Brazil is the continued presence of Fred, their decidedly mediocre centre forward. That a nation that has produced Ronaldo and Romario in the past now has Fred leading the attack is perplexing, to say the least. His potential replacement Jo isn’t much good either. Brazil’s World Cup winning coach, Luis Felipe Scolari has an answer to every question, but even he often stumbles at interviews when asked about Fred.
So, we are all set for an exciting clash between two neighbours who are very similar to each other in the way they play football. While a loss for Brazil would be unexpected, it is hardly impossible. There is no way that Colombia can beat a Brazilian team that is playing at its best. But given the mental frailties exhibited by the Brazilian players of late – the fact that they cry so often has become a big topic of discussion in Brazil – an upset cannot be ruled out completely.
Prediction: We are playing it safe. 2 – 1 to Brazil, although it might as well go the other way.
