No favourites in this battle of stars
Brazil pin hopes on Neymar while Colombia look for another Rodriguez masterclass
Brazil and Colombia enter the World Cup quarterfinals with totally different mindsets.
Brazil are surrounded by doubts after a more difficult start than expected to the tournament they are hosting. Colombia are upbeat after convincing performances and four straight wins.
While the hosts narrowly beat Chile in a penalty shootout to avoid elimination in the second round, the Colombians had a convincing 2-0 win over Uruguay to reach the quarterfinals for the first time.
The South American rivals play on Friday in the northeastern city of Fortaleza, with Brazil hoping to keep alive their quest for a sixth World Cup title and Colombia aiming to extend their best ever run in football’s showcase event.
Despite their tradition and home-field advantage, Brazil are far from a big favourite. An uncomfortable opening win over Croatia, a draw with Mexico and a win over Cameroon in the group stage preceded the tight knockout match against Chile, when Brazil advanced on penalties.
Such is the pressure on La Selecao that star striker Neymar on Wednesday reminded everyone who was willing to listen that winning, and not style, matters most. “You can’t always enjoy yourself and win 4-0 or 5-0. Football nowadays is so difficult, so even, that the team who is most committed on the pitch ends up winning,” said the Barcelona man.
“I don’t want a show. That’s the last thing we are trying to do. We are not necessarily here to produce a spectacle. We are here to run to the end, until we are tired, and come out as winners.”
“It’s normal to have people demanding that we play better,” Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari added. “But it’s also normal what we have been seeing in this World Cup so far. There were a lot of even matches. There is no difference between teams that have tradition and world titles and the rest of the teams. Matches are being decided on penalties, in the final minutes, on mistakes.”
One of the major concerns for Scolari has been the lack of support for Neymar in attacking areas as he has scored half of his side’s eight goals after four games, whilst other forwards Fred, Jo and Hulk have struggled to make an impact.
Neymar, though, claimed the team isn’t overdependent on him.
“I don’t feel overburdened either on the pitch or off it. I have team-mates who help me by winning the ball back, scoring goals, setting them up,” he said.
RIDING A WAVE
Colombia has won all of their matches without any real difficulty, thanks in part to the tournament’s second-best attack with 11 goals, one less than the Netherlands. It also has a strong defence with only two goals conceded. Brazil, meanwhile, has scored eight goals and conceded three.
“We’re very happy because we are making history,” said Colombia midfielder James Rodriguez. “We want to do even more because this is a team that really wants to win.”
Colombia have beaten Brazil only twice — the last time in the 1991 Copa America — but the teams have drawn the last four matches they played, including in a 2012 friendly in New York.
Colombia is relying mostly on Rodriguez, one of the stars of the World Cup so far.
“He has a lot of quality with his left foot, he’s showing why Monaco paid a lot of money to sign him,” Brazil defensive midfielder Fernandinho said. “We can’t give him any space, we are going to have to be very careful with him.”