The Colombia selection He entered the final stage, the final stretch to see if he goes to the World Cup in Qatar. First come the games against Peru, on January 28, and Argentina, on February 1, and for those games the coach Reinaldo Wheel put together a large, diverse and surprising call, to seek to return to victory, after five games without winning.
(You may be interested in: Colombia National Team: with James, but without Quintero, for the tie)
Rueda summoned 28 players to distribute and maneuver in the two games. It is a list led by its greatest referents. James Rodríguez, who set off the alarms by not playing on Tuesday with Al Rayyan (unofficial versions spoke of covid or physical discomfort). James has been raising his level with goals and assists. Your presence is key.
There is also Falcao García, another benchmark for the team and who, after a great start to the season at Rayo Vallecano, has lowered his production. But the attack deck is wide: Muriel, who arrives on fire; Borré, which is also doing well; Morelos and Borja… And along with them, Rueda has two high-level players available, Luis Díaz and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado.
One of the encouraging news is the presence of goalkeeper David Ospina, who these days is making progress in recovering from a physical ailment. It was unknown and set off the alarms. But yes it is. In case he could not make it to the first game, he is accompanied by Camilo Vargas and Andrés Mosquera, from Medellín.
(Also read: Colombia National Team: Rueda’s call, victim of memes)
On defense, Yerry Mina returns, and that’s another good one, because he was needed. He has already returned to play with Everton after overcoming his injury. He is accompanied by Óscar Murillo, from Pachuca, and Dávinson Sánchez, from Tottenham. However, the absence of Carlos Cuesta is striking, a player who has shown a high level in the National Team and who, after an injury, has already returned to play in Belgium. It’s a similar case to mine, but it’s not there now.
Rueda, in his desire to find solutions, made moves in the middle and attack. As he does not have Duván Zapata, injured, he called up Alfredo Morelos, Rangers of Scotland’s scorer. He also reinforced the creation with the call for midfielder Steven Alzate, who had not been called since 2020. In addition, Rueda insists on Diego Valoyes, a midfielder from Talleres de Argentina who was already in the November games.
Fruits of the friendly
Rueda also reaped the fruits of the recent friendly against Honduras. From that team, which was mostly from the local media, he cited six players: goalkeeper Marmolejo, and players Yimmi Chará, Harold Preciado, Yaser Asprilla, Fredy Hinestroza and Miguel Borja. Rueda anticipated that he was going to take into account 4 or 5 of that team, finally he takes 6 players with whom he was able to work all last week.
Of them, the one who perhaps has the most opportunity to play is Borja, who is the national team’s top scorer in the Rueda era. But he has other offensive weapons that can give him a hand right now, like Chará; Preciado, the last scorer in the League, and Asprilla, the 18-year-old who dazzled in the minutes he had due to his ability.
absences
In this key call, Rueda left out several players who could be important, such as Yairo Moreno and Víctor Cantillo. In addition, he again said no to Teo Gutiérrez, who, although he was not in the friendly past, a window was opened due to the injury of Juan Fernando Quintero, which, by the way, is one of the important absences, with Duván Shoe.
(Also read: Analysis: the keys to the Rueda call for the tie)
In this call it is also noteworthy that there are Jefferson Lerma and Gustavo Cuéllar, who will not be able to play the first game due to suspension.
Rueda played it with this list, which is large, which has variants and surprises. Everything to find the solution of the goal and the victory.
PAUL ROMERO
Editor of THE TIME
@PabloRomeroET
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