Scholarship table
John Brooks was the MVP.
Wow...Colombia makes ten changes to the starting lineup and gets stunned by the Ticos. Just like that, we win the group. Quite the 8-day change of fortune.
I wouldn't say stunned. After their starting 11 and Sanchez, they're not very good. I had a bad feeling after I saw their starting lineup.
For a national program that considers itself part of the elite in the world, the lack of depth would typically create a discusion as to how serious a contender they could be in any competition.
Brazil eliminated on the worst missed handball since Torsten Frings palmed a goal off the line in 2002. Seriously...that was ridiculous.
There were some worse ones. Suarez vs Ghana in 2010 and Henry vs Ireland in 2010. All in all I feel no sympathy for Brazil. This is the least that could have happened to them for all the diving and rolling on the ground for decades.
They lack depth in this tournament. This isn't their normal team. They don't have 3 of their 4 best strikers (Falcao, Martinez and Teo) missing 4 of their best midfielders (Guarin, Aguilar, Quintero, and Ibarbo) their starting left back in Zuniga, one of their right back choices in Armero and their backup keeper Vargas.Fabra is like their 3rd or 4th string left back and even Germany and Belgium would struggle with that and the strikers that played last night barely have any caps.
Kind of inexcusable that they don't have the ability to view video replay at tournaments at that level. That question could have been resolved very quickly.
Agreed. Have a video booth at the governing body (UEFA, FIFA, CONCACAF, etc), with a headset that speaks directly to them. It would take no more than 5 minutes in total. Another option is placing 5th/6th officials on both endlines.
As I wrote, it begs the question of their legitimate chances. Especially so if you consider Falcao one of their best options up top.
Lol at a Colombian (or any Latin America team fan) fan disparaging another team for flopping.
If Falcao is healthy, he is absolutely still one if their best options. Unfortunately, he hasn't been since his ACL injury.
Wasn't that like two and a half years ago? I think at this point that may need to be written off.
Never really got to USA thoughts on last night's match. Here goes, back to front...Midfielders: I'm so sick of Jones playing out on the wing. Every successful run he has requires him to fend off two or three tackles because he can't outrun a tortoise. Bedoya also just doesn't do it for me. Seems he rarely offers much forward, isn't a great defender, just don't get what he's doing out there. Zusi looked better when he came on. Bradley was okay. Not spectacular, but marshaled the defense and possession when we went a man down and needed him to keep things under control.
Bedoya often gets a good bit of flack. He's not the flashiest of players and sometimes ends up being forgotten. However, he is a consistent performer and a dedicated hard worker. On the ball, he was tidy and concise. While he didn't make a lot of charging runs into the box, Bedoya helped retain possession and did a lot in the background to reduce the strain on Jones and Bradley. On the defensive end, he was an absolute workhorse. He dedicated himself as a two-way player, always tracking back to help out, first Yedlin, and then Orozco on defense. Thanks to Bedoya, Paraguay found little headway through that right flank.