Photo: Colombian striker James Rodriguez (Getty Images)
The action in Group C kicks off when Colombia faces 2004 European champions Greece. The South Americans who finishes second during qualifications behind Argentina are expected to come out on top but Greece is more than capable of getting a result against the much fancied Los Cafeteros.
Colombia has been tipped as a ‘dark-horse’ but will have to do without the services of their star striker Radamel Falcao. The 28 year old sharp-shooter from Monaco suffered an ACL injury and is not fit enough to take part in Brazil. Greece on the other hand has to do without their big central defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos who has suffered with injury all season at Schalke.
Jose Pekerman still has a strong squad to select his first 11 with Arsenal target David Ospina likely to be in goal. Captain Mario Yepes of Atalanta and Milan’s Cristian Zapata are expected to feature in central defense with the speedy Pablo Armero from West Ham and Napoli’s Juan Camilio Zuniga in the wing back positions.
Fredy Guarin from Inter will run the show in midfield and could be partnered with Toulouse’s Abel Aguilar and Carlos Sanchez of Elche. Fiorentna’s Juan Cuadrado and James Rodriguez of Monaco are expected to be the playmakers for Colombia, supplying the likes of Carlos Bacca of Sevilla, Dortmund’s Adrian Ramos or Jackson Martinez of Porto.
The Piratiko on the other hand are very solid in defense which will be marshalled by Dortmund’s Sokratis Papastathopoulos. He could be partnered by Kostas Manolas of Olympiacos with Roma’s Vasilis Torosidis pressing on at right back.
Fulham’s Giorgos Karagounis, who is their captian and all-time leader in caps, will dictate play in midfield most likely to be partnered Kayserispor’s Alexandros Tziolis. Giannis Fetfatzidis of Genoa is expected to be the magician to try and create openings for Kostas Mitroglou while Giorgos Samaras is also expected to find the back of the net and create problems for Colombia.
This could be a very cagey encounter with few goals. Both teams are solid in defense but Colombia has more than enough quality going forward to unlock the Greek defense. Greece also has players that can hurt Colombia but they are not very ambitious in attack which could leave the onus on Los Cafeteros to make something happen.
Players to Watch:
Colombia: Fredy Guarin, James Rodriguez, Jackson Martinez.
Greece: Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Giorgos Karagounis, Kostas Mitroglou.
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