Colombia 2-0 Uruguay Two From James Rodriguez Ended 3 Million Dreams

Colombia 2-0 Uruguay Two From James Rodriguez Ended 3 Million Dreams

The Celestes Tried But Ultimately The Cafeteros Advanced To Quarter Finals

Edinson Cavani And James Rodriguez, Forwards From Both National Teams

The clash between Colombia and Uruguay was plagued with controversy even before it started due to the decision made by FIFA to send Uruguay's star striker Luis Suarez home after he was proven to have shown conduct unbecoming of a sportsman by biting Italy's Giorgio Chiellini in their final group stage match.  Things did not look any better for Uruguay as they were all sent home to follow Luis Suarez back to Uruguay when Colombia defeated them in the round of 16.

Colombia 2-0 Uruguay Two From James Rodriguez Ended 3 Million Dreams

James Rodriguez was the culprit as he scored a brace against Uruguay to put Colombia through to the quarterfinals where they will be going up against host nation Brazil.

With 8 out of 16 teams in the knockout stage from the Americas, it was inevitable that some of them would cancel each other out. Such was the case for Brazil who took out Chile and the same happened with Colombia and Uruguay.

Rodriguez scored a goal on the 28th minute and Uruguay were quick to attempt a counter attack only to be thwarted by flawless defending by the Colombians. Rodriguez stuck another goal five minutes into the second half which put the Colombians up 2-0 with plenty of time for Uruguay to fight back. The 22-year old is quickly becoming one of the revelations of this World Cup.

Two From James Rodriguez Ended 3 Million Dreams Colombia 2-0 Uruguay 

"It's historic, a dream come true: I always wanted to score in the Maracana and now I have. If you want to win, every player is important. Uruguay had a lot of men behind the ball, so we needed plenty of movement up front and we got it. Now things are going to get even harder, but we can go far" said man of the match James Rodriguez in the post-match press conference.

Uruguay kept pressing on making 16 attempts at goal in contrast to Colombia's 10. However, despite furious attempts, Colombia were able to rely on superior defending and goalkeeping to hold Uruguay down to a blank slate.

"We had to take risks to reduce the deficit, but we came up against a 'keeper who performed extraordinarily well and didn't let us back into the match. But I'm proud of these players: once again they showed character and gave it their all." said Oscar Tabarez, Uruguay's coach about their failure to break through Colombia's defence.

James Rodriguez Ended 3 Million Dreams Colombia 2-0 Uruguay 

COLOMBIA 2, IVORY COAST 1 Group C Has One Defined Leader

After their first World Cup victory in 16 years last Saturday, Colombia fans expressed their appreciation by giving Coach José Pékerman more than 400,000 write-in votes in Sunday’s presidential election.

That alone made the professorial Pékerman a national hero and his stature rose even higher Thursday when Colombia held on to beat Ivory Coast, 2-1, in a thrilling, wide-open Group C match at Estádio Nacional in front of a sea of fans wearing Colombian yellow shirts. That victory, combined with a subsequent 0-0 tie between Japan and Greece, propelled Colombia into the second round for the first time since 1990.

If the election were held again, Pékerman, who was born in Argentina and granted citizenship shortly after Colombia qualified for the World Cup, might double his vote tally. And should Colombia advance in the knockout stages, he might eventually have to change his designation to Mr. President.

 “It’s a little it funny, because football doesn’t have anything to do with being the leader of a country,” Pékerman said. “But I take it as an honor because this is payback for a lot of hard work. After a lot of frustration, it pleases us. Our nation is so passionate about its football that it hurts not to be on par with other countries.”

But after beating a talented Ivory Coast team in a harrowing 90 minutes of forward-minded soccer, Colombia is in a better position than some of the most renowned soccer-playing countries, including Spain, which has been eliminated, and England, which lost Thursday in crushing fashion to Uruguay, 2-1.

For several days leading up to this match, fans of Colombia, which neighbors Brazil, flooded into Brasilia, turning the stadium and the surrounding areas into a satellite Colombian city. The attendance was announced as 68,748, a record for the renovated stadium, and at least 90 percent seemed to be rooting for Colombia, a team that few believed would make much noise in Brazil.

Colombia’s ability to score was questioned since it was without its top-rated striker, Radamel Falcao, who was lost to a knee injury in January. But Colombia has more than made do without him, and its fans have made plenty of noise, both inside the stadiums and out.

First Colombia beat Greece, 3-0, with James Rodríguez scoring one of the goals.

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On Thursday, Rodríguez, Colombia’s 22-year-old playmaker, scored the opening goal against Ivory Coast on a header off a corner kick in the 64th minute, and celebrated by doing a celebratory dance with his teammates along the touchline, as the fans made a deafening roar of delight.

“So many people rooting for you, it was extraordinary,” Rodríguez said. “It was very loud and it was in our favor so that Colombia could win.”

But the Ivorians found inspiration as well. During the national anthems, Serey Die was overcome with emotion and tears streamed down his cheeks. According to a press relations officer for Ivory Coast, Die’s father died in 2004, and he was thinking about him during the anthem.

Rodríguez’s goal came only four minutes after Ivory Coast brought in Didier Drogba, its most celebrated player, off the bench.

It is not true that more than 400.000 Colombians voted for Pékerman in Colombia’s presidential election last Sunday. Official reports early...

With Colombia leading, 1-0, Ivory Coast was careless when trying to bring the ball out of its own end, and was stripped. The ball was played forward to Teófilo Gutiérrez on a quick counterattack, and he pushed it forward on the right wing to Juan Quintero, who slotted into the goal with his left foot, initiating another dance.

With 20 minutes to play, things seemed bleak for Ivory Coast, but three minutes later its forward Gervinho scored a terrific goal, splitting two defenders near the side of the box and weaving around a third before powering home to the short side. His celebration was to urge his teammates back to the line for a kickoff, as time was running out.

There were several more opportunities for Ivory Coast late in the game, but Colombia held on for a victory that was destined to propel them where they had not been in 24 years.

“It is a huge pleasure to see Colombia at the World Cup after a long period of time,” Pékerman said. “Now, to have two consecutive victories, we have the tranquillity of 6 points.”

Colombia Loses Top Scorer

Colombian striker Radamel Falcao will not recover in time from a knee injury to play in this summer's World Cup in Brazil, according to French sports daily L'Equipe, which said the physician for the Andean country's national squad will make the official announcement in the coming days.

The 28-year-old AS Monaco player tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on Jan. 22 in a French Cup match and has not been able to speed along his recovery enough to compete for Colombia at soccer's premier showcase, which gets underway on June 12.

Citing sources at the French club, L'Equipe said the Colombian soccer federation is considering the best way to communicate the news about its star player, who may give a press conference in his homeland on Tuesday.

Monaco on Friday posted a photo on its Web site showing the player in uniform and practicing on the field under the headline "Falcao is training!" But L'Equipe said the image did not provide a true picture of the Colombian's condition.

Falcao's father had already said two days ago that the former Atletico Madrid star may not recover in time to represent his country in Brazil.

"Medically he's doing very well, but not soccer-wise," he said.

Since sustaining the injury during a match against a French third-division team, Falcao has been trying to beat doctors' projected recovery time of six months.

Colombia, which qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 thanks in part to Falcao's play, is in Group C along with Greece, Japan and the Ivory Coast.

The Colombian striker left Atletico Madrid and signed a five-year deal with Monaco in May 2013.