World Cup 2014 Preview – Columbia

When one thinks of South American soccer, most tend to think of Brazil. However, Columbia are ready to change that perspective and do some major damage this World Cup. Ranked #5 in the FIFA World Rankings, Columbia are set to make a splash in Brazil, and are fully capable of winning their first World Cup title ever.

The Columbians success all starts up front with one of the best strikers and players in the world: Falcao. Always a threat to score from anywhere on the pitch, opposing defenses take extra precaution when dealing with Falcao. He possesses quickness, great ball skills, and is deceptively fast. Over-pressuring as a defender will allow him to easily slip past you, while giving him just a little bit of a cushion allows for the ball to stay at his feet even longer; a situation most teams try to avoid. Don't be surprised if he is the leading goal scorer this World Cup.

Along with Falcao up front is another fantastic striker, Teo Gutiérrez. Gutiérrez may be a great beneficiary of Falcao's talents because most teams will focus more on containing Falcao, which, in turn, opens things up for Gutiérrez to impact a match.

Columbia are also solid in their backline, which consists of great defenders such as Mario Yepes and Luis Perea. Although these two are getting on up in age, they do have plenty of experience and it's rather rare to have that kind of talent at their respective ages of 38 and 35. Opposing teams will need to be creative if they want to score against this squad.

My prediction: In a group that could go any team's way, Columbia should place first in Group C, ahead of Greece, the Ivory Coast, and Japan. This isn't the most difficult of groups, but Columbia had better not take any of these teams lightly, or their World Cup dreams will be crushed before it ever begins.