jenni_blog | Jul. 3rd, 2011

I realize now what the Colombian team is lacking: midfielders. They have a wealth of strikers, almost all of whom were on the pitch at the same time yesterday. But this does not make up for the lack of quality midfielders who could get the ball to these strikers. Fredy Guarin is an amazingly talented provider, but he cannot do it all by himself. And yesterday most of his passes and crosses were not hitting the mark. I found myself wondering where all the good midfielders were, and why they were not called up? Two from Atletico Nacional, playmaker Macnelly Torres and defensive mid Jairo Palomino, could have fleshed out this team nicely. Maybe they were left off because Nacional had a long season, going all the way to the final in the league playoffs and eventually winning it all. But there are other quality midfielders in Colombia...two older guys, both past 35 now, are Giovanny Hernandez of Junior and Gerardo Bedoya of Santa Fe. But they were probably not chosen because of their age and their recent dip in form. Another superb midfield player is Rafael Robayo of Millonarios, but I know he is currently injured. Then there are the tremendously talented kids who played for the U-21 squad that won the Toulon Tournament in France last month. Where are they? Others the coach might have considered: Victor Ibarbo and Dorlan Pabon (Nacional), Mayer Candelo (Millonarios), Jaime Castrillon (Independiente Medellin), Jhon Cano, Dahwling Leudo and Javier Araujo (La Equidad) and Diego Chica (Boyaca Chico).

Well, Colombia won anyway, thanks to a lovely goal from Adrian Ramos, but they were not organized, all those strikers running loose all over the pitch, taking many more shots on goal that didn't go in. Their next match is against Argentina, and although both teams have had their problems in these first games, I think we will see these teams getting stronger as the tournament progresses.

Okay, on to the picspam:

Mario Yepes of Colombia kneeling over Cesar Elizondo of Costa Rica.