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Colombia national football team
Topics: Football in Colombia
The Colombia National Team represents Colombia in international football competitions and is controlled by the Federacion Colombiana de Futbol. It is also a member of CONMEBOL.
History
Colombia did not participate in the world cup qualifying rounds from 1930 to 1954 but were quite active. They went on to win the Central American Cup in 1946, a cup they would win again in 1970. Colombia would first enter World Cup qualifying in the 1958 qualifiers but were unsuccessful. Colombia tied with Uruguay in Bogota 1-1 but lost in Montevideo 1-0. Later, Colombia narrowly lost against Paraguay 3-2 in Bogota and later in Asuncion 3-0 leaving Colombia at the bottom of CONMEBOL Group 3 with 1 point.
1962 FIFA World Cup
In the 1962 qualifiers, they faced Peru in a two-game series and qualified for their first World Cup.
CONMEBOL Group 3
1 - 0
1 - 1
Colombia qualified.
At Chile 1962, Colombia lost 2-1 to Uruguay in their opening match. They then drew 4-4 with the Soviet Union in one of biggest shocks at Chile 1962. Unfortunately their campaign ended with a 5-0 defeat to Yugoslavia.
Group 1 - Chile 1962 Final Standings
Aftermath and growth of La Seleccion
Colombia entered the 1966 qualifiers and finished bottom of their group behind Chile and Ecuador. The 1970 qualifiers proved to be little better. In the 1974 qualifiers, Colombia finished behind Uruguay only on goal difference. In the 1975 Copa America, Colombia finished runners-up losing to Peru 2-0.
For the 1990, South America was allocated three and a half berths at the 1990 finals, one of which went to Argentina as defending champions from Mexico 1986. The continent's nine remaining sides were split into three groups with the two automatic qualifying berths going to the two best group winners, in this instance Uruguay and Brazil. The group winner with the worst record would advance to the CONMEBOL / OFC Intercontinental Play-off. Thus Colombia had to take on the winners of the Oceania Zone. Curiously, this turned out to be Israel, after they finished ahead of Australia and New Zealand in the final qualifying group. Colombia qualified for their first FIFA World Cup since Chile 1962 after winning in Barranquilla 1-0, and tying in Israel 0-0.
1990 FIFA World Cup
At Italia '90, Colombia defeated United Arab Emirates 2-0, lost to Yugoslavia 1-0 and earned their place in the Round Of Sixteen after a dramatic 1-1 draw with West Germany, which would later win the cup. Colombia would be the only team Germany did not beat on their road to the cup.
Group D
During their Round Of Sixteen match against Cameroon, the game went into Extra Time after a 0-0 draw. In an unfortunate moment, goalkeeper Rene Higuita failed to protect the ball from the goal line, enabling Cameroon striker Roger Milla to snatch it from him, and score Cameroon's decisive second goal. Milla struck twice, giving Cameroon a 2-0 lead in Extra Time. Colombia would score in the 115th minute, but were unable to get an equalizer.
1994 FIFA World Cup
Colombia entered 1994 FIFA World Cup with high expectations. An impressive qualifying campaign included a historic 5-0 win over Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Qualification - CONMEBOL Group 1
August 1, 1993, Barranquilla, Colombia - 0 - 0
August 1, 1993, Lima, Peru - 0 - 1
August 8, 1993, Asuncion, Paraguay - 1 - 3
August 8, 1993, Lima, Peru - 0 - 1
August 15, 1993, Asuncion, Paraguay - 2 - 1
August 18, 1993, Barranquilla, Colombia - 2 - 1
August 22, 1993, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 2 - 1
August 22, 1993, Asuncion, Paraguay - 1 - 1
August 29, 1993, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 0 - 0
August 29, 1993, Barranquilla, Colombia - 4 - 0
September 5, 1993, Lima, Peru - 2 - 2
September 5, 1993, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 0 - 5
Colombia qualified. Argentina advanced to the CONMEBOL / CONCACAF / OFC Intercontinental Play-off.
Group Stage: Romania: 3-1 :Colombia - June 18, 1994
The match between Colombia and Romania was the first game for either side in the group phase. Romania took the lead in the 16th minute with their first attack of the match when Raducioiu took on three defenders before firing home a low shot. On the half hour mark, Hagi made it 2-0 when he noticed Cordoba out of position and dipped a cross over his head into the net. Valencia pulled a goal back for the Colombians in the 43rd minute when he headed in a corner from Perez. In the second half, Raducioiu put the result beyond doubt with his second goal in the final few minutes.
Group Stage: USA: 2-1 :Colombia - June 22, 1994
During the team's next game against the United States on June 22, Andres Escobar was stretching to cut out a cross but he deflected the ball into his own net. The U.S. went on to get a second goal in the 56th minute thanks to Earnie Stewart.
Group Stage: Colombia: 2-0 :Switzerland - June 26, 1994
Colombia scored a 2-0 win over Switzerland. To the shock of the football world, Escobar was gunned down shortly after the team returned home.
Group A - Final Standings
1998 FIFA World Cup
Colombia began their qualification rounds in South America well and ended in third place with 28 points, 2 points below Argentina who was in 1st place with 30 points. They ended in Group G with Tunisia, England, and Romania.
Qualification For France 98: A total of 10 CONMEBOL teams entered the competition. The South American zone was allocated 5 places (out of 32) in the final tournament. Brazil, the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 4 spots open for competition between 9 teams.
Final Standings
Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia and Chile qualified.
Group Stage: Romania: 1-0 :Colombia
In their opening match 24-year-old Adrian Ilie of Valencia gave Romania a 1-0 victory over Colombia after he placed a magnificent chip shot in the 44th minute from some that sailed over goalkeeper Farid Mondragon into the net.
Group Stage: Tunisia: 0-1 :Colombia
Colombia's second match was against Tunisia. Colombia's Leider Preciado's strike seven minutes from the end gave Colombia a 1-0 win over Tunisia.
Group Stage: England: 2-0 :Colombia
Although England needed only a draw to guarantee a place in the final 16, Anderton drove home a fiercely-struck angled drive in the 20th minute. Beckham curled in a free kick nine minutes later leaving the game 2-0 with England winning. This meant Colombia was out for good.
Group G - Final Standings
2001 Copa America
Colombia's exit at France 98' marked the end of an era, as many expected, but one last moment of glory came at Copa America 2001.
The Copa America 2001 was held in Colombia, from July 11 to July 29, 2001. It was organised by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. Prior to the tournament, three meetings were held by CONMEBOL authorities who were concerned about potential security issues in Colombia, for what Venezuela offered to host the competition . At last minute, the CONMEBOL decided to return the organization to Colombia, and the tournament was held on schedule. Complaining for the sudden decision, and claiming that Argentine players had received death threats from terrorist groups, the Argentine Football Association decided to withdraw from the competition. Because Canada and Argentina withdrew, on July 6 and July 10 respectively, Honduras and Costa Rica were invited. There were no terrorist incidents within the competition. The teams were divided into three groups of four teams each. The formation of the groups was made by CONMEBOL, in a public drawing of lots. Each team plays one match against each of the other teams within the same group. Three (3) points are awarded for a win, one (1) point for a draw and zero (0) points for a defeat. First and second placed teams, in each group, advance to the quarter-finals. The best third placed team and the second best third placed team, also advance to the quarter-finals. Colombia was placed in Group A with Venezuela, Chile, and Ecuador. Colombia finished on top of the Group A with 9 points
Group Stage: Colombia 2-0 :Venezuela
A goal in each half was enough to secure Copa America hosts Colombia a victory over Venezuela. Freddy Grisales scored Colombia's first in the 15th minute, and Victor Hugo Aristizabal made it 2-0 on the hour from the penalty spot.
Group Stage: Colombia 1-0 :Ecuador
A goal by Victor Hugo Aristizabal in the 29th minute gave Colombia a 1-0 vicory
Group Stage: Colombia 2-0 :Chile
Two goals left Colombia as group leader with 9 points.
Quarter-Finals: Colombia 3-0 :Peru
The hosts beat Peru with a double from Victor Hugo Aristazabal and one from Giovanni Hernandez.
Semi-Finals: Colombia 2-0 :Honduras
The hosts took the lead after five minutes with a strike from Bedoya. The host nation eventually doubled their lead after 62 minutes, with Aristizabal scoring.
Final: Colombia 1-0 :Mexico
Hosts Colombia won their first Copa America title by beating Mexico in Bogota. Their captain Ivan Cordoba scored the decisive goal early in the second half with a header from a free kick. It was a fairytale success for Colombia after the decision to go ahead with the tournament after it had initially been cancelled. Even the fact that Argentina, regarded by most observers as the strongest side in the region, elected not to take part and that most countries fielded weakened teams failed to dampen the celebrations in Bogota.
2002 FIFA World Cup
For Korea/Japan 2002, hopes were high for Colombia, but a weak attack and internal turnmoil crushed their hopes. Colombia only managed a 6th place in the qualification round. Uruguay and Colombia both had 27 points but due to goal differences, Uruguay advanced to the Play-Offs with Australia.
Final Standings
Fixtures & Results
March 28, 2000, Bogota, Colombia - 0 - 0
April 26, 2000, La Paz, Bolivia - 1 - 1
June 4, 2000, Bogota, Colombia - 3 - 0
June 29, 2000, Bogota, Colombia - 1 - 3
July 19, 2000, Lima, Peru - 0 - 1
July 25, 2000, Quito, Ecuador - 0 - 0
August 15, 2000, Bogota, Colombia - 1 - 0
September 2, 2000, Santiago, Chile - 0 - 1
October 7, 2000, Bogota, Colombia - 0 - 2
November 15, 2000, Sao Paulo, Brazil - 1 - 0
March 27, 2001, Bogota, Colombia - 2 - 0
April 24, 2001, San Cristobal, Venezuela - 2 - 2
June 3, 2001, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 3 - 0
August 16, 2001, Bogota, Colombia - 0 - 1
September 5, 2001, Bogota, Colombia - 0 - 0
October 7, 2001, Montevideo, Uruguay - 1 - 1
November 7, 2001, Bogota, Colombia - 3 - 1
November 14, 2001, Asuncion, Paraguay - 0 - 4
2005 CONCACAF Copa de Oro
The 2005 CONCACAF Copa de Oro, or Gold Cup, was played in July 2005 in the United States. Colombia and South Africa were invited guests. Colombia was placed in Group A with Panama, Honduras, and Trinidad and Tobago. There were 3 Groups with 4 teams each ,which meant that all 3 first place and second place finishers would advance to the quarter finals and so would the best two third place finishers
Group Stage: Panama: 1-0 : Colombia
Colombia's opening match was against Panama where they lost 1-0.
Tejada, who plays for Colombian club Envigado, netted the game's lone score in the 70th minute.
Group Stage: Honduras: 2-1 : Colombia
The next match was against Honduras where they lost again 2-1. Two late goals gave Honduras the advantage as the catrachos defeated Colombia 2-1 in Group A action of the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup
The win is the first for Honduras in the tournament since 2000, when they also defeated Colombia.
Group Stage: Trinidad and Tobago: 0-2 : Colombia
The third match was against Trinidad and Tobago where they won a 2-0 victory.
Quarterfinals: Colombia: 2-1 : Mexico
Colombia reached the quarterfinals to face Mexico. Colombia beat Mexico 2-1 as an unexpected goal from Abel Aguilar helped the South American squad advance to the semifinals.
Semifinals: Panama: 3-2 : Colombia
Colombia reached the semifinals only to be defeated by Panama, the underdogs of the tournament. Panama clipped Colombia 3-2 in front of more than 40,000 people at Giants Stadium.
2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup -Germany was an important moment for Colombia, having failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup. Head coach Francisco "Pacho" Maturana led the team through 4 FIFA qualifiers and was fired after losing to Brazil 2-1 in Barranquila, getting thrashed 4-0 by a weak Bolivia and suffering a shocking 1-0 defeat at home to Venezuela. Following a 1-1 tie with Argentina he was fired and Reinaldo Rueda was placed as the new coach. Colombia seemed to have improved and defeated Peru and Uruguay 5-0 during qualifying, managed a 3-0 victory over arch-rivals Ecuador, and tied with Brazil 0-0 in Sao Paulo. Towards the end Colombia (21 pts), Chile (21pts), and Uruguay (22 pts) had a chance to target the playoffs with Australia. Colombia (21 pts) traveled to Asuncion hoping for three points against Paraguay (28), who sealed their place in Germany while Chile battled against Ecuador and Uruguay against Argentina. As in the 2002 qualifiers, the last match of Argentina was against Uruguay, and in both occasions Uruguay needed a favourable result to reach 5th place in order to make the playoffs to earn a place in the World Cup. Even though Colombia won its match against Paraguay, Uruguay also won the match against Argentina, again reaching the position to play the playoff for the last ticket to Germany. Both Argentina and Paraguay had already qualified. Colombia ended with 24 pts, once again behind an Uruguay with 25 pts.
Final Standings
Fixtures & Results
September 7, 2003, Barranquilla, Colombia - 1 - 2
September 10, 2003, La Paz, Bolivia - 4 - 0
November 15, 2003, Barranquilla, Colombia - 0 - 1
November 19, 2003, Barranquilla, Colombia - 1 - 1
March 31, 2004, Lima, Peru - 0 - 2
June 2, 2004, Quito, Ecuador - 2 - 1
June 6, 2004, Barranquilla, Colombia - 5 - 0
September 5, 2004, Santiago, Chile - 0 - 0
October 9, 2004, Barranquilla, Colombia - 1 - 1
October 13, 2004, Maceio, Brazil - 0 - 0
November 17, 2004, Barranquilla, Colombia - 1 - 0
March 26, 2005, Maracaibo, Venezuela - 0 - 0
March 30, 2005, Buenos Aires, Argentina - 1 - 0
June 4, 2005, Barranquilla, Colombia - 5 - 0
June 8, 2005, Barranquilla, Colombia - 3 - 0
September 4, 2005, Montevideo, Uruguay - 3 - 2
October 8, 2005, Barranquilla, Colombia - 1 - 1
October 12, 2005, Asuncion, Paraguay - 0 - 1
2006 Central American and Caribbean Games
Group Stage
Quarter Finals
After Copa America 2007
After Copa America 2007, the Colombian national football team boomed with recent success in the South American 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. After embarrasing losses against Paraguay, and Argentina in the Copa America, many Colombians nonetheless anticipated a successful run for 2010 FIFA World Cup classification. In the first match of the qualifying round, Colombia, defying expectations that they would lose to Brazil, drew 0-0 with Brazil at home. Not long after that, Colombia surprisingly tied 0-0 again with Bolivia national football team, but many argue that this was largely due to the fact that the altitude of La Paz contributes to usual losses or ties for non-Bolivian teams.
However, Colombia would find their very first win after defeating a weak Venezuela national football team 1-0, with a stupendous free kick courtesy of Ruben Dario Bustos. IN their next game, Colombia would defy expectations again by beating Argentina, at the time ranked first in the world. On November 17, 2007, In Bogota against Argentina, Lionel Messi beat the defense before scoring past goalkeeper Agustin Julio. Colombia turned the game around in the second half, however, when Ruben Dario Bustos got his second free kick goal of the qualifying campaign, and not long after that, Dayro Moreno scored his first international goal for Colombia. Colombia won the match 2-1, obtaining 4th place in the world cup qualifiers.
Tragedies
In 1994, defender Andres Escobar scored an own goal in a World Cup match against the United States; shortly after the team returned to Colombia, Escobar was murdered. He was murdered in the city of Medellin, Colombia.
Current Squad
The following players named for their upcoming friendly against on Feb 6th, 2008.
[*]
Recent players
World Cup Record
1930 - Did not enter
1934 - Did not enter
1938 - Withdrew
1950 - Did not enter
1954 - Did not enter
1958 - Did not qualify
1962 - Group Stage
1966 to 1986 - Did not qualify
1990 - Round Of Sixteen
1994 - Group Stage
1998 - Group Stage
2002 - Did not qualify
2006 - Did not qualify
Top Goalscorers
Famous Players
Leonel Alvarez
Juan Pablo Angel
Faustino Asprilla
Jorge Bermudez
Ivan Cordoba
Oscar Cordoba
Alfredo Di Stefano
Andres Escobar
Giovanny Hernandez
Rene Higuita
Aly Faryd Camilo Mondragon
Luis Amaranto Perea
Hugo Rodallega
Freddy Rincon
Carlos Valderrama
Adolfo Valencia
Mario Yepes
External links
Colombia FA
RSSSF archive of results 1938-
RSSSF archive of most capped players and highest goalscorers
RSSSF archive of coaches 1938-
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Colombia national football team