In the opening match of Group C play at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Colombia started off with a fifth minute goal and never looked back, easily taking a 3-0 victory over Greece.
The signature style of Greek soccer is told hold the ball in possession as much as possible, approaching the game with a deliberately slow pace and keeping the scoreline low. This entire ethos, though, is predicated on not allowing the opponent to score an early goal and force the Greeks to chase the game.
Woops:
Pablo Armero’s goal allowed Colombia to dictate the pace of the game, and also touched off this pretty spectacular dance celebration:
Colombia’s pace caused a lot of problems for Greece, but the Greeks did manage to threaten several times before the halftime whistle on a pair of strikes from Panagiotis Kone. However, just over ten minutes after the interval, Colombia struck again:
Teofilo Gutierrez found himself in the right place at the right time, and the striker will be thrilled to open up his account given that he has been charged with replacing Colombia’s top scorer Radamel Falcao. He will be needed for Colombia to advance past the Round of 16 for the first time in their history.
Greece nearly halved the lead on this 63rd minute header, and it is worth considering how the final half hour would have been different had Theofanis Gekas guided it just a few inches lower and not missed the gaping goal:
James Rodriguez finished off the scoring for Colombia with this tidy finish in stoppage time to complete a great day for Colombia and their fans:
With the win Colombia take an important three points, and have set themselves up nicely to advance. Group C is regarded as one of the tournament’s easiest, and it’s fair to expect Colombia to be able to grab more points in their remaining games.
For Greece, there’s much work to be done. They will need to find a way to score some goals in their remaining games against Japan and the Ivory Coast, but given their defensive prowess they are not totally out of it yet.
