Colombia begin their campaign with a 3-0 win over the Greeks. Though not the overbearingly dominant performance that many had predicted, "Los Cafeteros" come out on top against a stubborn Greek side. Both teams had their chances, it was just a matter of who was going to capitalize on them. Another goalless game for the Greeks now leaves them with only 18 goals in 25 international tournament games.
One could not ask for a more beautiful day at the Estadio Mineirao for Colombia and Greece to open their respective campaigns. It was not long before the favorites opened the scoring on 4’ minutes as Pablo Armero finished off a low cross that came from Juan Cuadrado on the right flank. It was surely not the start Greece was looking for as they have struggled to score goals in the last year and throughout qualifying.
The first twenty minutes saw Greece hold more possession than anticipated while the Colombians continuously tried to use their speed and attack the Greeks from the wings. Carlos Sanchez made it pretty apparent that “Los Cafeteros” were not going to be caught on the counter as he received the first booking of the match on 26’ minutes for a bad tackle on Giorgis Samaras.
The first half saw Greece hold 57% of possession and have the majority of chances. It didn’t seem to bother the Colombians though as they seemed comfortable with sitting back and trying to catch the Greeks on the counter. The best chance of the half fell for Greece on 45’ minutes as Colombian keeper David Ospina brilliantly saved a curling shot from the eighteen off of the boot of Panagiotis Kone.
The second half began much like the first half ended. Colombia seemed content sitting back and letting the Greeks hold the ball in the midfield while they tried to choose their moments to catch them on the counter. James Rodriguez had the first big chance of the half when his right-footed shot just outside of the eighteen was saved by keeper Orestis Karnezis.
It was on 57’ minutes when Teofilo Guitierrez sent the dominant Colombian crowd into a frenzy as he finished off a corner after a beautiful flick on to give the Colombians a 2-0 lead. If the Greeks had any shot of getting back into this game they missed it five minutes later when Theofanis Gekas headed the ball off the crossbar when he should have surely put it away.
It was only icing on the cake as James Rodriguez coolly slotted home in the 93’ minute to give the Colombians a resounding 3-0 win. Colombia begin their campaign exactly how they wanted it with three points in the bag. Their next game will be on June 19 as they are set to take on Didier Drogba and the Ivory Coast. The Greeks will be hoping that they can find the net against Japan as they will surely need a win to have a chance at advancing.
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