Colombia national team: this is the probable starting lineup to face Brazil in the Copa América

In one of the most anticipated duels of the first phase, Brazil will try to end Colombia’s 25-match unbeaten streak on Tuesday to snatch first place in Group D of the 2024 Copa América.

The team that emerges victorious from the clash in Santa Clara, California, will have the added reward of avoiding a fierce quarter-final clash with Uruguay.

Colombia, for another victory

Colombia leads Group D with six points, after their convincing victories against Paraguay (2-1) and Costa Rica (3-0), while Brazil has four points. Although he has not known defeat in his two years in charge of the Colombian team, Néstor Lorenzo rejected this Monday the status of favorites for the duel at the Levi’s Stadium.

“With Brazil you are never the favourite, we will play as well as possible to be up to par,” the Argentine coach stressed in a press conference. “They are teams with a lot of history and we are just writing a few pages of this history that has

Colombia, which is very good in some historical contexts, but we aspire to improve it,” he argued.

Colombia, who won the tournament at home in 2001, have shown few flaws so far and are illuminated in attack by two inspired figures, James Rodríguez and Luis Díaz.

Ten years after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which launched him to stardom, James’ left foot is once again shining for his national team when many had given him up for lost. James “is a very high-level player, who draws attention for his quality.

“He is someone who feels very good with the Colombian national team,” acknowledged the Brazilian coach, Dorival Júnior, who had him under his command until January in Sao Paulo. “James feels very well integrated into a group that respects him, that embraces him and makes him even more important,” he explained.

Colombia’s other star player, ‘Lucho’ Díaz, was already the top scorer at the last Copa América alongside Lionel Messi and opened his account in this edition with a penalty goal against Costa Rica. The mere presence of the Liverpool winger puts defensive systems on alert and the Brazilian knows this first-hand.

If he scored a spectacular scissor kick goal in the 2021 Copa América, last November he scored two headers in three magical minutes with which Colombia turned the score around and defeated Brazil in the South American World Cup qualifiers. “Lucho is a crack, a great guy and an excellent player,” praised him the Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, his teammate at Liverpool.

“But we don’t have to neutralize just one player, but a team that is going through a great moment of confidence”.

Brazil come into the match on the back of a 4-1 win over Paraguay on Friday under Vinicius Jr. The Real Madrid star enjoyed his first big night with the ‘Seleçao’, scoring two goals and giving some fantastic plays to a fan base that still looks with suspicion at this new generation.

This is how Brazil arrives

Brazil, which is experiencing one of its worst runs of results, feels comfortable not being under the spotlight of the favourites for once. Regarding the starting eleven, Dorival Junior could make new changes after shaking up the team after the goalless draw in its opening game against Costa Rica. The coach left Raphinha on the bench on Friday for Savinho and the young Girona winger did his job by making a difference on the right flank and scoring a goal. “The changes will depend on the needs of the match. We are studying the Colombian team a lot. They are an excellent team, very consistent,” Dorival conceded.

“It’s one of the best generations of Colombian football in recent years.” Endrick, the 17-year-old gem about to join Real Madrid, is still waiting for his first chance as a starter. The match will kick off at 6:00 p.m. local time (01:00 GMT on Wednesday) at Levi’s Stadium, home of the NFL’s iconic San Francisco 49ers, with a capacity of 68,500 spectators.

Probable lineups

Before the match, the big question is in the midfield, with the presence or not of Richard Rios, who is threatened with yellow cards. There is speculation that Kevin Castaño could start.

Colombia: Coach: Nestor Lorenzo.

Brazil: Alisson – Danilo, Eder Militao, Marquinhos, Wendell – Bruno Guimaraes, Joao Gomes, Lucas Paquetá – Savinho, Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo. Coach: Dorival Junior

SPORTS WITH AFP