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Brazil have defied the pre-match hype, and knocked out Colombia. Brazil will advance to the semi-final against Germany at Belo Horizonte on Wednesday morning.
Colombia are devastated, and they can be aggrieved over the referee’s performance. Questions also remain on why changes weren’t made earlier.
FINAL SCORE:
Brazil 2
Colombia 1
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The dream lives on, but only just for Brazil, where all hopes go on the line at Fortaleza against high-flying Colombia in the second quarter final at the FIFA World Cup. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 6:00am AEST.
A last gasp penalty shootout victory over Chile was never part of the script for Brazil. For player and spectators their Round of 16 survival was greeted with sheer relief, but also with concern about whether this is actually a team that can win a World Cup.
There is the visible fright on all the faces of all the Selecao – so much so that Luis Felipe Scolari has called psychologists to tend to a group confronting relentless pressure to win this tournament. Success was never a going to be a surprise so much as meeting expectation. What has been gleaned in the last two weeks, following close calls against Croatia, Mexico and Chile, is that Brazil is not the force it once was.
While Julio Cesar was the eventual hero in the shootout against Chile, the hopes of a nation still rest with Neymar, who has performed admirably thus far to carry Brazil, but lacks a genuine support cast.
Tactically, Scolari may opt to deploy Neymar as a sole striker, dropping Fred and packing two defensive midfielders in Fernandinho and Ramires to keep the impressive James Rodriguez quiet, as the first option Luiz Gustavo is suspended.
For the land that created Joga Bonito, Brazil may come to rely on its defence to employ control against Colombia, having only conceded three goals in four games.
The defence will be kept busy though, not least by the aforementioned Rodriguez. The sheer focus on the Monaco man comes as a result of scoring five goals and piling on another five assists, meaning Colombia have only scored one goal not involving Rodriguez. However, to obsess about him does a disservice to Colombia’s other players, who were excellent in dismantling Uruguay in their round of 16 clash.
While plaudits will focus on Rodriguez, Porto’s Jackson Martinez continues to be a wily operator up front that has symbolised Colombia’s entertaining prowess this tournament. The defence is well marshalled by the young star Cristian Zapata and veteran captain Mario Yepes, while Juan Cuadrado has been instrumental to spreading out defences for Rodriguez et al to pick apart.
However, Colombia’s status as tournament darlings will end once they take the field at Fortaleza, lest anyone defeat Brazil.
As the form team, Colombia will know they have a big opportunity to spring a memorable upset that can see them enter serious calculations to win a maiden World Cup. However, Brazil will have pride and a thirsty desire to fulfil an expectant crowd’s ambitions of a sixth title.
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