With a bit of luck, Colombia reached the second round of the South
American Sub-20 Championships in Venezuela. In this round, six teams
battle for victory and perhaps more importantly, a spot at this
summer’s Under-21 World Cup.
Colombia’s
first two matches weren’t particularly impressive, apart from
collecting four points, but against Argentina the youngsters showed
themselves capable of much more. Another decent match followed against
Venezuela and if it wasn’t for two balls hitting the post and a missed
penalty, the hosts would have been eliminated.
But Colombia will
have to do even better in the second round. Only four days after facing
Venezuela, the two sides meet again in Puerto La Cruz. In the first
round, Colombia showed themselves capable of beating Venezuela and this
will certainly give them more confidence in their next clash.
The
fun continues on February 2nd with a tough match against Uruguay, who
have thus far won all of their matches in the tournament. Defending
champions Paraguay await two days later, followed by a clash with
Brazil, arguably the continent’s best side.
The final match is scheduled for February 8th, when Colombia will meet again with Argentina.
In
short, five very strong opponents will be waiting to give Colombia a
hard time and the ‘yellow youngsters’ will get a perfect opportunity to
show scouts all over the world what they are made of.
If Colombia
fails to win the tournament, they should at least finish within the top
four to qualify for July’s World Cup. Two years ago they failed,
finishing last in the final group having won their group in Round 1. At
least this year it looks like Colombia may peak at the right moment.
