THERE IS MORE TO US THAN FALCAO & JAMES
Coach warns England not to treat the Colombians as a two-man team
JOSE PEKERMAN warned England they risk coming unstuck tonight if they think Colombia are a two-man team.
Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez – who is set to start against England after recovering from a calf strain – are the South Americans’ most influential players.
But Pekerman said Colombia have a collective strength that goes beyond the individual brilliance of their two star men. “We really, really trust both players very much,” he said.
“Both of them have always been very important for our team.
“But sometimes, when they’ve not been able to play, we’ve still managed to perform properly.
“A team is not only two players. We’ve developed and shown we’re a very strong opponent over the past few years.
“So we’ve come to the World Cup hoping to do what we did in Brazil – play a good tournament and show that we’re at the same level as favourites like England.”
James is set to be given the all-clear to start as Colombia – 16th in the FIFA rankings, four places below England – look to make the quarter-finals for the second straight World Cup.
“We had good news after the medical tests,” said Pekerman. “After his MRI scan, we knew he didn’t have a serious injury. We still have to see how he feels and, as always, we hope he’ll be able to play the following games.”
Falcao was a flop in England, over two ill-fated spells at Manchester United and Chelsea. At United he
scored four goals in 29 games, while at Chelsea he managed just one in 12.
The 32-year-old, who has since regained his scoring touch with Monaco, admitted he underperformed in England, but refused to say whether he felt he had a point to prove tonight.
“It’s true that I didn’t shine as I wanted to in England, but that’s part of the past,” said Falcao.
“Regarding this game, I can only say it’s beautiful to be here, to be able to play against England, and I think all my team-mates are ready to play and give everything.” Pekerman (above) admitted England had an advantage over Colombia in being able to make eight changes in their final group game, having already qualified for the last-16 stage. The Colombians had to beat Senegal to go through, but Pekerman said the flip side of having to play his strongest side throughout was the fact they have kept their momentum. “Of course, a team that can let players rest has a certain advantage,” he added.
“This tournament has many games and there aren’t many days to recover from one match to the next.
“On the other hand, this gives us an important opportunity, because we’ve played very tough matches up until now, decisive matches, which has made us stronger.
“We’re more confident, we believe more in ourselves and we realise we’re very strong.
“So we’re very selfconfident and think this can compensate for the fact the other team has been able to rest more.”