| A near capacity crowd of 35,000 in the Stade de La Mosson, Montpellier were
totally captivated by a wonderful advert for world football as Colombia
defeated Tunisia 1-0. The scoreline was a far reflection of a marvellously
entertaining contest which could easily have ended 6-6 with both sides committed
to all-out attack and neither side deserving to lose. It was end-to-end stuff from
start to finish with both goalkeepers producing sparkling displays before
Colombia's substitute striker Leider Preciado scored the only goal with just seven
minutes remaining. Both sides had lost their opening Group G matches and
needed all three points from this game to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Colombia like to stroke the ball around and play at their own tempo but they
were soon knocked out of their stride by the urgency of a tidy Tunisian side.
Skandar Souayah began to control the midfield and saw a left-footed shot shave
the post on 18 minutes before Colombian defender Wilmer Cabrera saw his
header, destined for the top corner, superbly saved by el-Ouaer just four minutes
later. It was more like a basketball match with each side taking it in turns to
attack and have an attempt to score, which made terrific viewing, but amazingly
the game remained scoreless. Tunisian striker, Ben Slimane, saw his 30th-minute
diving header pushed against the post and out for a corner by the excellent Farid
Mondragon, who continued to celebrate his 27th birthday yesterday with a
masterful display. At the other end Adolfo Valencia hit a sceming left-foot volley
inches over before Ever Palacios had the chance of the first half, but put a free
header into the side-netting just minutes before half-time. After the break Tunisia
took a slight hold on the game as Valderrama seemingly took a 20-minute
breather on the left touch-line and Zoubele Baya's volley from Ben Slimane's
cross whistled inches wide of the target. Colombia coach Hernan Dario Gomez
took a gamble by introducing three substitutes with 28 minutes remaining to
freshen up his attack and when skipper Valderrama decided it was time to stamp
his authority on the game he had willing runners to aim for up front. The leading
scorer this season in the Colombian league, Preciado, went close after 72 minutes
before the 21-year-old scored the vital goal on 83 minutes following a slide-rule
pass from his 36-year-old captain. The goal was hard on Tunisia and especially
'keeper el-Ouaer who had performed heroics and they pressed forward to the
last whistle in vain. The result means that the North Africans are eliminated from
the competition whilst Colombia have put themselves right back in the picture
with the game against England to come in Lens on Friday 26 June. |
