Photocred: FIFA
Host nation Brazil faces an upbeat Columbia when the two teams face-off in the quarter final stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil at the Estadia Castelao in Fortazela on July 4. The match kicks off on Friday at 22:00 (CAT).
Both teams enter the quarter finals in totally different situations and with contrasting mind sets. Brazil face the intensive pressure due to their host nation status and a more difficult start than they were expecting. Columbia, on the other hand, come into this knockout match after convincing performances, whereby they managed to win four of their total four matches thus far.
Currently Brazil are ranked number 3 in the world and have won five World Cup Finals. This ranks them as the most successful nation in FIFA World Cup history. Colombia can be considered the underdogs going into this match , ranking in at 8th in the world, according to FIFA. This quarter final appearance will be a first for the nation.
Brazil will be feeling under fire in this encounter as they have been rather undercooked thus far, just beating Chile to avoid elimination in the Round of 16. Columbia, on the other hand, reached the quarter finals by convincingly beating Uraguay 2-0 in their Round of 16 face-off.
Brazil’s head coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, however understands this pressure and believes his side’s shaky start is nothing besides the norm. “It’s normal to have people demanding that we play better. But it’s also normal what we have been seeing in the World Cup so far. There were a lot of even matches. There is no difference between the teams that have tradition and world titles and the rest of the teams in the World Cup. Matches are being decided on penalties, in the final minutes, by mistakes,” Scolari said.
Stats-wise Columbia are the more impressive of the two outfits in this competition thus far. They have the second best attack, scoring 11 goals by this point, one less than Netherlands 12. They have also only conceded a mere two goals at this point. Brazil have scored just eight and conceded three.
