Falcao, Rodriguez lead Colombia on turnaround quest

MOSCOW — Four years ago, as Colombia prepared for its first World Cup in 16 years, Radamel Falcao struggled to get healthy.

An ACL injury had sidelined him for nearly six months, but Falcao waited until the week before the tournament to admit he wouldn’t be able to play. His sadness soon turned to envy as he watched an unheralded 22-year-old teammate named James Rodriguez lead Colombia into the quarterfinals unbeaten.

This summer both Rodriguez and Colombia could be even better thanks to Falcao, the country’s all-time leader scorer, who will finally make his World Cup debut at 32.

“The story’s different now,” he told reporters before leaving for Russia. “I’m making the most of every moment with my teammates, getting us ready for this World Cup that we’re very excited about.”

Brazil was Rodriguez’s coming-out party. He finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with six goals in five games, so he won’t catch anyone by surprise this summer. Nor will Falcao, who was nominated for the 2017 Ballon d’Or — awarded to the world’s top player — and who has scored 51 goals in all competitions the last two seasons for Monaco of France’s Ligue 1.

Colombia missed three straight World Cup tournaments, failed to advance beyond the group stage of the Copa America in 2007 — the first time that had happened in nearly two decades — and fell as far as 49th in the world rankings before a new generation led by Falcao, defender Cristian Zapata, midfielder Carlos Sanchez and goalkeeper David Ospina began to bring the country back.

That mix began to jell in 2012 when a former taxi driver named Jose Pekerman was hired as coach.

The team heads into next week’s opener in Russia unbeaten against World Cup teams this year, including a 3-2 win over France, a tournament favorite.

For Colombia to succeed, however, Pekerman will need to get Rodriguez and Falcao on the same page because for all they share, what they appear to lack is chemistry. They are two of the top scorers in South America yet Colombia had just 21 goals in 18 World Cup qualifiers as the team placed fourth in the tournament, squeezing out a trip to Russia by one point.

Brazil, which won the CONEMBOL event, had nearly twice as many goals. And Colombia had to rely on Ospina to pitch shutouts in its last two World Cup tuneups to earn scoreless draws.

To advance in Russia, Colombia will have to become the team it was four years ago when it scored 12 times in five matches in Brazil. Pekerman, who took Argentina to the quarterfinals of the 2006 World Cup, appears unconcerned.

“My team,” he said this spring, “has the character of a World Cup side.”