Colombia is hoping to reach the Copa America semi-finals, the next step in the possibility of winning a second continental title after a 23-year wait. And they will face Panama, who surprised by knocking out the host country, the United States.
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In order to qualify, the team has an increasingly well-oiled offensive weapon that has been giving them good results since the arrival of Néstor Lorenzo in mid-2022.
The attacking aerial game was already working well before the Copa America. And it became a fundamental variant during this tournament: half of Colombia’s goals have been headed.
One in every four goals in the Lorenzo era came via aerial means and that percentage exceeds what was achieved by all the coaches of the last 12 years (see chart). Of the 44 that have been scored since September 2022, 11 were headers.
The top scorer in this way is Luis Díaz, who converted three: one against Germany, in the friendly in Gelsenkirchen in June last year, and the two from the historic victory against Brazil in the qualifier.
Headed goals in Colombia do not depend on a single player
But, just like in the overall count, the team does not depend on a single player to score. Davinson Sánchez has two goals, the one in this Cup and one against Paraguay in a friendly at the end of 2022. And with one headed goal each are Luis Sinisterra, Radamel Falcao García, Rafael Santos Borré, Jhon Córdoba, Daniel Muñoz and Jefferson Lerma.
When it comes to assists, Colombia also has the advantage of not depending on a single player and has thus had a wide offensive bouquet. James, of course, leads the list for assists from above, with three. They are followed by Jhon Arias and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado with two (the latter was absent from the Copa América, but provided the assists for Luis Sinisterra’s goal against Mexico and Luis Díaz’s against Germany). And, with one each, are Juan Fernando Quintero, Daniel Muñoz, Cristian Borja and Johan Mojica.
The changes in the team’s play and work with set pieces have shown progress in this regard. During José Pekerman’s time with the national team for almost seven years, between 2012 and 2018, one in every seven goals was scored from above, and this percentage rose significantly during the World Cup in Russia, where the power of Yerry Mina, the team’s top scorer in that World Cup, with three headed goals in that tournament, against Poland, Senegal and England, was put to good use.
Just as Colombia found a wide range of players to avoid depending on just one player, it has also found different formulas to continue dreaming of winning the Copa América.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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