Colombia’s soccer coach Jose Pekerman has released his team’s roster for the upcoming friendly against Brazil in Miami, Florida.
The match against Brazil will see the return of Radamel Falcao, who came off the injured list to play with Monaco this month after nearly six months out with a torn ACL. Along with “El Tigre,” golden-boy and underwear model sensation James Rodriguez will combine for a strong team who will be travelling back to face their rivals who eliminated them from the 2014 World Cup.
The match will take place on September 5 in the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, and is sure to be played hard by both sides. The teams last played in the nail-biting quarter-final which saw Brazil put Colombia out of the World Cup competition, 2-1.
In a statement made in Bogota, Pekerman said, “With the exception of Farid [Mondragon] and Mario [Alberto Yepes] going, it will be the same 21 players who were in the World Cup,” according to Colombia’s Caracol Radio.
New additions to the team will be Falcao, Aldo Leao Ramirez, Luis Fernando Muriel, and Edwin Valencia.
The Argentina-born Pekerman, who recently committed to another four years with the Colombia team, to the much jubilation within Colombia, said, “We can lose games, but never our objectives.”
Colombia shone in this year’s World Cup, partly due to the emergence of much loved James Rodriguez, the Golden Boot winner and recent acquirement for Spanish giant, Real Madrid.
In his announcement Friday morning, Pekerman called up his team. The players summoned for the friendly are as follows:
Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Arsenal, England), Camilo Vargas (Santa Fe, Colombia)
Defenders : Camilo Zuñiga (Napoli, Italy), Cristian Zapata (Milan, Italy), Pablo Armero (Milan, Italy), Eder Alvarez Balanta (River Plate, Argentina), Santiago Arias (PSV, Holland), Carlos Valdes (Philadelphia Union, USA).
Mid-fielders: James Rodriguez (Real Madrid, Spain), Carlos Sanchez (Aston Villa, England), Abel Aguilar (Toulouse, France), Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Fiorentina, Italy), Victor Ibarbo (Cagliari, Italy), Fredy Guarin (Inter, Italy), Juan Fernando Quintero (Porto, Portugal), Aldo Ramirez (Atlas, Mexico) and Carlos Carbonero (Cesenia, Italy).
Strikers: Falcao Garcia (Monaco), Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate, Argentina), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla, Spain), Jackson Martinez (Porto, Portugal), Adrian Ramos (Borussia Dortmund, Germany) and Luis Muriel (Udinese, Italy).
Sources
- Falcao regresa a la seleccion colombiana para amistoso con Brasil ( Official Colombia team site)
- ´´Se puede perder partidos, pero no los objectivos´´: Pekerman habla sobre el futuro. (Caracol radio)