Colombia in for changes
KAZAN, Russia — Changes are coming to Colombia’s team at the World Cup after a disappointing 2-1 loss to Japan.
The South Americans thrashed the same opponent 4-1 in the group stage in the 2014 edition in Brazil, so Tuesday’s defeat was even more upsetting for Colombia.
Coach Jose Pekerman now is working on rearranging his team for Sunday’s clash against Poland, which also suffered a setback by losing to Senegal in its first match. Pekerman is being forced to shuffle his defensive midfielders, since
Carlos Sanchez picked up an early red card and is banned for the second match. The Argentine has a natural replacement in
Wilmar Barrios, who plays for Boca Juniors.
Pekerman chose to substitute winger Juan Cuadrado with Barrios later in the first half after Japan converted the penalty. It was a risky decision that restrained Colombia’s attacking play down the wings and isolated forward Radamel Falcao.
In central midfield, Pekerman hopes that playmaker James
Rodriguez, who came on as a second-half substitute, will be fit enough to start against Poland in Group H. The Bayern Munich player, who was the top scorer at the 2014 tournament, has been suffering from a left calf injury in recent days. Rodriguez trained among the reserve players Wednesday.
Nevertheless, the need for the most change is in defence, which was porous at times and seemed insecure against Japan. Pekerman went with the youth of centre back Davinson Sanchez, but the Tottenham defender was partly at fault in the buildup to the first goal for Japan and didn’t provide much stability at the back. Center half Oscar Murillo and fullback
Johan Mojica also failed to impress.
Pekerman may turn to Cristian Zapata, who played for Colombia in 2014 and could provide some more experience to a back line, with the exception of Santiago Arias, which has mostly new faces. The coach may also decide to go for the size and strength of Yerry Mina against Poland.
NEYMAR RETURNS
SOCHI, Russia — Brazil is making sure everyone knows Neymar is perfectly fit at the World Cup
A day after he limped out of training and raised further doubts about his physical condition in Russia, the Brazilian soccer federation was quick to tell the world the team’s biggest star was just fine.
Brazil had a closed practice session Wednesday, two days before its game against Costa Rica in St. Petersburg, but the federation posted photos and a video of Neymar in action in training with the rest of the
squad.
FABIANSKI TO WEST HAM
Poland goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has finalized a move to English Premier League club West Ham while on national-team duty at the World Cup. The 33-year-old Fabianski has left Swansea, which was relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season, to join West Ham on a three-year deal. He has made more saves than any other goalkeeper over the last four seasons in the English top flight.
SOUTHGATE IN SLING
REPINO, Russia — England’s players got a bit of a surprise when they arrived for a team meeting at their World Cup base on Wednesday: Their coach had his right arm in a sling.
Gareth Southgate dislocated his right shoulder while out running during England’s scheduled day off from training and was taken to the hospital by a team doctor.
“It is better this is me than one of the players,” Southgate said. “They were a bit surprised in the team meeting and were asking, ‘What have you been doing?’ As always, they were probably quite amused.”
COMPLAINT DISMISSED
SOCHI, Russia — The Brazilian soccer federation says FIFA has dismissed its complaint over the use of video review in the team’s World Cup opener against Switzerland.
The federation said Wednesday FIFA didn’t specifically address the plays contested by Brazil: Non-calls on a push inside the area before Switzerland’s equalizer and a penalty on Gabriel Jesus.
It said FIFA reiterated VAR is used only to eliminate clear and obvious mistakes by the officiating crew.