Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast: Five talking points

Colombia defeated the Ivory Coast in a closely contested game 2-1 to seal their passage to the knockout rounds of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.Here are afew thoughts onthe game,in no particular order. 

#1 Colombian counter-attacks

Colombia and Ivory Coast possess two similar attributes: speed and weak defences. Gervinho, Max Gradel, Serge Aurier; Cuadrado and James Rodriguez are all pacy, while Kolo Toure and Mario Yepes are ageing and past their best. Logically, a counter-attack was the most likely route to a goal for either side.

It didn’t quite work out that way, but both Colombia goals were a result of counters. James Rodriguez won a corner completely against the run of play, then headed it in himself. Six minutes later he seized the ball from Die, and a couple of passes later Quintero netted the winner.

Both goals were due to sudden surges from midfield that Ivory Coast had no answer to, and the frustrating thing for coach Sabri Lamouchi was that Colombia had been doing it all match long.