Cool Carlos

COLOMBIA THROUGH

Colombia has made it to the World Cup finals by playing a draw against Chile yesterday. This is the first time that the team has done it since 1998.

Colombia has to play one more World Cup qualifier against Paraguay on the 15^th of this month, but, the result of that game is not going to matter now

In the match against Chile, Colombia was off to a very poor start. They were looking awfully nervous and conceded 3 goals inside the first 30 minutes. To bounce back from that stage was very tough for them. But, they did that. They found the net thrice in a space of 15 minutes in the second half and managed to equalize the scores.

The best performer for Colombia in the game was Radamel Falcao who scored a couple of penalty goals and gave some relief to the 45,000 home fans who were there in the stadium.

Talking to the reporters in the post match press conference, the Colombia boss Jose Pekerman said, “The way we played at the start of the game was really surprising to me. May be, it was the pressure of the big occasion that had made the boys feel a bit nervous.”

“The boys must be lauded for the way they came back. It’s never easy to turn things around once you get down by 0-3 and that too when you are playing at a big stage.”

On the other hand, the Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli was looking pretty upset with the fact that his team got only one point from the game even after getting such a good start.

Sampaoli said, “The end result was a bit disappointing. We should have won after the start that we had got.”

MONACO MAKE HEADLINES

French club Monaco have been making headlines in the transfer world in the last few months. They have spent close to £ 100 million by bringing in three players in the last few months. The standout player amongst the trio is the Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who is believed to have cost the club £ 50 million. The 27-year-old has been one of the most wanted strikers over the last few years. Clubs like Chelsea, Real Madrid, and Manchester United were after his signature, but he chose to go down a different route by signing for Monaco.

The French club bankrolled by a Russian billionaire and they are already showing a lot of intention to become one of the best clubs in the world. Aside from Falcao, they have also brought in James Rodriguez and Joao Moutinho. Ricardo Carvalho, Eric Abidal, and Jeremy Toulalan are some of the other star names who have been brought to the club during this period. Falcao has said that Monaco may not have achieved much in terms of the European competitions in recent years, but he is confident that they will be a force to reckon with in the next few years.

The club are not expected to stop with their spending at this point, as they are still linked with several big names.

“I understand that this could have come as a surprise. It’s a pity there’s no European Cup, but that’s how it is. But the aim is to win the title so that we can play in the Champions League next year. We have other motivations than Europe this season, we want to win all the competitions we’re in and that’s already enough. Many people may believe that this is a mistake, but I’m sure they will change their opinion once we have won titles,” said Falcao.

TOO DIFFICULT FOR FALCAO

The Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao has said that it is extremely difficult match the budgets of the Spanish clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid, but he feels that his club should be considered as one of the title contenders this season because they are in the second position. The striker is considered as one of the best in Europe right now. He is the only contender for the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Spanish la Liga when it comes to the scoring charts. He has helped Atletico Madrid gain a strong foothold in the table by moving to the second position ahead of their arch rivals Real Madrid.

Even though they are nine points behind leaders Barcelona, Falcao believes that they have done enough in the season to be considered as a title contender. After the recent defeat at the hands of Real Madrid, they have fallen nine points behind the leaders. However, they still have a significant advantage over Real Madrid in the table, and they are now the favourites to finish in the second position. Radamel Falcao has been consistently linked with a move away from the club for the last few months, but he is not expected to move in the January transfer window.

“With the budgets available to Real Madrid and Barcelona, they can have the best players in the world. But it is Barca first, Atletico second and Madrid third. So now we should talk about Barca and Atletico,” said the 26-year-old striker. Falcao has been linked with a £ 48 million move to Chelsea, with the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid also showing interest in the player. The player is currently second in the goalscoring charts in Spain with 17 goals to his name. Only Lionel Messi is ahead of him in the table.

COLOMBIA BEAT PARAGUAY

The Colombian football team has defeated Paraguay in a World Cup qualifying match played at Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Melendez on Saturday. Colombia won the match by 2-0. With this victory, Colombia has now moved up to no. 3 in the South American World Cup qualifying points table. The Colombian team has played 8 World Cup qualifying matches so far out of which the team has won five, has lost two and the remaining one has ended in a draw. The Colombian team currently has 16 points in 8 matches.

On the other hand, this was the sixth defeat for Paraguay in the tournament. The Paraguayan team has played 8 matches in the competition so far out of which the team has managed to win only one match. Paraguay has been defeated in 6 matches, while, the remaining one match has finished without any result. The Paraguayan team currently has only four points in 8 matches and it is placed at the bottom of the South American World Cup qualifying points table.

The Paraguayan team looked horribly out of form in the match. In the first half, the Colombian team got quite a few goal scoring opportunities, but, neither of those chances was capitalized on by the Colombian players. The first half went goalless. The Colombian team managed to take the lead in the 7^th minute of the second half with the goal of Radamel Falcao. It was a fine left footed strike by the striker of Atletico De Madrid and the ball went straight into the far corner of the net.

The lead of Colombia was doubled towards the end of that match. It was Falcao again who found the net for Colombia. After that, there was not much time left in the game and it was very hard for Paraguay to make a comeback.

The Colombian team will play its next World Cup qualifying match against Bolivia.