Colombian National Team: This is how the new most undefeated record of the national team was after its performance in the Copa América

In addition to the glory achieved throughout this unforgettable America Cup with their second runner-up title in the history of the tournament, the Colombia selection It also marked a huge statistical milestone: it achieved the longest undefeated streak in its history, surpassing a record that dated back to 1994.

Colombia’s undefeated

The streak began after losing against the same rival in the final, Argentina, on February 1, 2022, at the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium in Córdoba. Lautaro Martínez’s goal that day practically sealed the elimination of the team led by Reinaldo Rueda from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The last two rounds of that qualifying round, still with Rueda, ended with victories against Bolivia and Venezuela. The coach left and Héctor Cárdenas coached a match as interim against Saudi Arabia (1-0 victory). In mid-2022, Néstor Lorenzo was named as the new national coach.

Those first three games of the unbeaten team did not foreshadow what was to come. Lorenzo’s name was not unanimously approved from the start, due to his short history as a group leader. He was alongside José Pékerman for many years and the only team he had managed was Melgar de Arequipa, in Peru.

However, Lorenzo showed his wisdom. He picked up a good part of the group he had met as a technical assistant at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and began to add pieces to it. And so he began to form a team that became stronger as the matches went by. Today they are undefeated in the qualifiers and shine in the Cup.

The tally, up to the final, was 28 games without losing, 25 in the Lorenzo era. There were 22 wins and six draws, with 55 goals scored and 16 conceded.

And best of all, with a football that began to win back a fan base that was badly hit by the failure of the previous qualifying round, where Colombia received two painful defeats against Uruguay (0-3) and Ecuador (6-1), and then went seven games without scoring a goal. The current team, with many of those players, has more than enough today.

JOSE ORLANDO ASCENCIO

Sub-editor of SPORTS

@Josasc