REVIEW: Toothless Uruguay shown the door by impressive Colombia

Before the tournament began, many had Colombia high on the list of teams that could be dark horses this summer.  Belgium have truly failed to impress despite winning their group, Chile are out at the hands of hosts Brazil, but Colombia remain.  Without Suarez, it was always going to be difficult for Uruguay to mount a serious challenge for Colombia, and truly, they never did.  Colombia have advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time in their history on the back of yet another comprehensive team performance which was highlighted by the delightful play of James Rodriguez.

James Rodriguez – the now leading scorer in the tournament on five goals and perhaps the best number 10 this summer.

For Los Cafeteros, this is the story that maybe was truly meant to be written.  Without their star striker Radamel Falcao, Colombia have not only responded as a team united by a common goal, but Rodriguez has taken up the sword for his country left behind by their talisman.  This truly is what the World Cup is all about.  For a nation that has yet to taste World Cup success by any measure and have been constantly reminded of the tragedy of Andres Escobar, there was no better place than on South American soil than for arguably the best team they have ever fielded at a major tournament rise to the occasion – their time is now, and so far, they have not disappointed.

"Starting XI’sColombia: Ospina; Armero, Zapata, Yepes, Zuniga; Sanchez, Aguilar; Rodriguez, Cuadrado; Gutierrez, MartinezUruguay: Muslera; Pereira, Godin, Gimenez, Caceres, Pereira; Rodriguez, Arevalo, Gonzalez; Forlan, Cavani"

First Half

The first twenty minutes of the half did well to highlight the presumed tactical makeup of the match.  Uruguay understood the threat that Colombia possess going forward, especially through Cuadrado and Rodriguez and addressed it accordingly by deploying five at the back, supported by two defensive minded midfielders.  Despite Suarez not being available, Uruguay were happy to sit back in numbers and invite possession for Colombia but make it difficult to break them down with pace like they had done in the group stage.

James Rodriguez scores what could be the goal of the tournament – it was the first of two from the brilliant youngster

They may have addressed the threat from Colombia, but they offered very little of their own at the other end.  Cavani was incredibly isolated up front, Forlan offered little and Rodriguez did little to warrant his selection ahead of Gaston Ramirez.  But in the 28th minute Colombia would break the deadlock through none other than the brilliant James Rodriguez who brought the ball 25 yards out with his chest and then unleashed a brilliant volley past Muslera.  It was a fantastic goal from a player who has arguably been the player of the tournament thus far.

The half would end by the same 1-0 scoreline.  Colombia looked far more threatening throughout, while Uruguay were, in a word, impotent going forward.  The loss of Suarez hit them hard as expected and their defensive deployment did nothing to help in trying to replace him.

Second Half

If Rodriguez wasn’t already hated in Uruguay, he was public enemy number one just fine minutes after the re-start.  Pablo Armero found space in the final third to float his cross to the back post, it was then met by Cuadrado who headed back across goal to an open Rodriguez to fire home from six yards out.  It was his fifth of the tournament, one which he was beginning to steal the headlines away from his fellow South Americans Messi and Neymar.

Rodriguez completes his brace after a brilliant header across the frame of the goal from Juan Cuadrado.

Uruguay were toothless in the attack for the entire match and apart from a handful of scoring chances (none better than Cristian Rodriguez’s stinging 25 yard drive), this was a match that Colombia was never under any real threat of losing.

Upon going 2-0 up however, Colombia would opt to redeploy in a defensive manner and it would give Uruguay a bit to work with finally.  They would threaten on multiple occasions through set pieces, but chances from the run of play were still lacking.

Uruguayan keeper Fernando Muslera is left dejected as Colombia celebrate their progression to the next round.

The final whistle would sound and send Colombia into celebrations that were well deserved.  Hosts Brazil await them in the quarterfinals, and if their performance against Chile today is any indication of what they can bring to the table, it’s very hard to bet against Colombia sending the hosts crashing out of the tournament before the final.

Man of the Match

It Really couldn’t be anyone else, could it? So many have said that he has been the best young player of the tournament this far (myself included), but after today, he must surely be in the running for player of the tournament over all.  His absolute peach of goal in the first half supplemented by his close range finish in the second half rounded off a display that has been as good as any from him this summer.

AS Monaco did very well to snap him up from Porto (the money helped surely), but they’ll do even better to keep him after a summer such as this.  Moving forward, you just have to fancy Rodriguez’s chances against a Brazil back-four that looked out of sorts today against Chile.  Rodriguez is on another level right now, and the way he has combined with Cuadrado and others makes Colombia a massive threat to see themselves into the semifinals.