This Friday’s is the key battle in the war for points that has been this auction of Qualifiers to Qatar 2022. If there is no victory this Friday, against Peru in Barranquilla, the dream of qualifying for the Colombia National Team will probably suffer a wound definitive.
For this reason, coach Reinaldo Rueda does not think about rehearsals or improvisations, but instead relies on the experience and voice of those who have been involved in the most demanding feats in recent years. He trusts, for example, Radamel Falcao García.
The presence of samarium in the call, after his absence last November and in all the other calls that he missed due to injuries, is an opportunity that nobody wants to miss. Knowing that he is healthy and available is so tempting that the DT has used him in the last practice as the 9 in the area above the other attackers, which suggests that he would be the starter in the Metropolitan.
Falcao offers the aerial game, the unchecking, the nose and the cold blood for the definition that other times have been lacking and have made the team reach this appointment with a fast of five games without a goal.
In practice, Falcao sets the example he always has, pushing himself hard, appearing as if it were his first time on the team, setting the standard. And that has given him in the last hours the possibility of being a starter over Miguel Borja, who knows the field, the city, the weather and who is also a trusted man of Rueda. The doubt would be between the two of them, but ‘El Tigre’ is ‘El Tigre’…
The other situation that the DT would have in mind is the left side: it is said that Mojica’s news is undisputed, but Tesillo was the starter in the 3-0 against Peru in Lima, he is one of those who arrives with the best news and offers a security behind that the man from Elche and Fredy Hinestroza, both with more attacking vocation, could not guarantee. That is the other big doubt of the starting eleven this Friday.
Thus, the starting list of the Colombian National Team would be with David Ospina; Daniel Muñoz, Yerry Mina, Dávinson Sánchez, William Tesillo (or Mojica); Wilmar Barrios, Matheus Uribe; Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, James Rodriguez, Luis Diaz; Falcao.
This Thursday the last rehearsal will be held and it will be the time to clear up all doubts and bet on those who are the best, those who best handle pressure and anxiety and those who physically guarantee a suffocating match, not only because of the weather but also because of the requirement. In Rueda’s wisdom is the qualification for the World Cup.
