With the World Cup edging ever closer, people are starting to predict who they think will win the prestigious tournament.
The beauty of the event is that so-called lesser teams manage to do well; thoughts of South Korea reaching the semi-finals in 2002 and Uruguay achieving the same feat in 2010 spring to mind. So, who will be the surprise package in 2014?
With odds of 25/1, Colombia are certainly outsiders but many believe them to be the dark horses of the up-coming World Cup. The Los Cafeteros (coffee growers) have cruised through their qualification with eight wins and a point total of 27 with one game remaining.
This is a good sign for Colombia as qualifying from South America is notoriously difficult, having to face Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Paraguay to name a few. In fact, 2010 semi-finalists, Uruguay, may not even qualify, according to the betfair betting. Progressing from a tough group suggests that Colombia may have the mettle to do well in Rio.
One Colombian player excites every football fan: Radamel Falcao. The striker has an uncanny ability to score goals, scoring 100 goals in 126 league games during his time at Porto, Atletico Madrid, and Monaco, while for his country he has 19 goals in 49 games.
If we take Diego Forlan as an example: he fired his country, Uruguay, to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup contributing five goals; if Falcao can provide his own fair share of goals, then Colombia will go far.
Colombia are not a one-man side though; they have talent in the abundance with players such as James Rodriguez, Jackson Martinez, Fredy Guarin, and Christian Zapata. While they lack depth, their starting XI is more than capable of beating the best of teams and many of their players play top-flight football in Europe.
With a current world ranking of fifth, the latest betfair odds suggest that Colombia have every chance of taking the World Cup by storm.
