With the Copa America Centenario final yet to be played as of this writing, I hope to be congratulating Messi and his Albiceleste squad later tonight rather than Alexis Sanchez’s La Roja – and that’s not just because Chile knocked Colombia out. Argentina and Chile have, without a doubt, been the two best teams throughout the length of the competition, but I feel Argentina has performed better overall. Combined, the two teams have a tournament goal differential of +29… Argentina tasted triumph over Chile to open their campaign, so hopefully tonight will be a repeat of that.
However, I am not here to talk about the championship matchup -- I am here to assess Colombia’s third place performance in the tournament. Overall, I am satisfied with getting a podium finish (that’s for you racing fans), but I do have to admit I think Colombia has underperformed since last year’s Copa America. World Cup Qualifying started with only one win in four games, but they picked it up against Bolivia and Ecuador to finish out before this summer’s Copa America. With those recent results, I expected Colombia to come in firing on all cylinders and really challenge for the Copa America Centenario title. Unfortunately, players like Jackson Martinez, Radamel Falcao, Juan Fernando Quintero, and more, were not in form and were not selected for Pekerman’s squad. I think Pekerman’s decision to include some new players in the squad was the right one, but it no doubt left us in an uncertain position moving forward. Obviously we still boasted players like James, Cuadrado, Bacca, and Murillo, so it wasn’t like we were in shambles, but a lot of players had little to no national team experience.
We opened up the tournament with a 2-0 win and closed with a 1-0 win, both of which were over the USA, but there is much room for improvement. Our defense throughout the tournament was great, minus the Costa Rica game, in which we played our second team. I thought the real problem came with our offense. The movement in the final third never really clicked between our midfield and forwards. Whenever we did manage to get into the final third, we would play it back or send in hopeful crosses. There was a lack of creativity amongst our attacking players. Bacca had a few opportunities that, had he been playing like he did in Sevilla, he would have finished with ease. This time around, he was not in great form. James shone, as a player of his skill tends to do. Without his presence Colombia would have been doomed. The player who I thought really underperformed the most was Juan Cuadrado. The Juventus midfielder rarely showcased his speedy, trademark attack. His defense was overly aggressive, resulting in him getting beat or fouling a lot. Lastly, he wasted a number of opportunities throughout the tournament because he decided to dive instead of continuing the play. In my opinion, his popularity has made him a flashy player, as opposed to the intelligent, driven player he used to be.
Moving forward, Colombia needs to focus on organizing their offensive schemes. This is especially true for the flanks around the penalty area, as well as the attacking third as a whole. However, I think one of the major changes that could be made is to reduce player turnover. With more consistent call-ups, I think the chemistry among the players could improve.
