The Colombia vs Chile match will be held this Friday October 11, 2013 (2:00 PM Pacific) at the Estadio Metropolitano in Barranquilla, Colombia. Both teams come into this game with the hope of securing their ticket to next year’s World Cup in Brazil. All eyes will be on the Colombian national team which needs a tie to qualify to their first World Cup since 1998. Colombia comes into this match in second place with 26 points, while Chile currently stands in third place with 24 points (a victory would officially qualify the Chilean national team).
It has been four long weeks for the Colombian national team as they missed on a chance to qualify in their last match against a rising Uruguayan team in Montevideo. “Los Cafeteros” have been the strongest defensive team thus far in the CONMEBOL qualifiers with only 9 goals conceited. With the leadership of their 37 year old veteran captain, Mario Alberto Yepes, Colombia has had 4 clean sheets in 7 home games thus far. They will look to have another strong defensive performance while they hope to re-discover their explosive offense that has been stagnant the past few matches.
Look for Colombia to try and once again create opportunities for their deadly striker Radamel Falcao who has 7 goals in the qualifiers. James Rodriguez will need to establish himself in the midfield and become a creative play-maker in order for Colombia to have another breakthrough offensively. I will look for their coach Jose Pekerman to finally give in-form striker Jackson Martinez a well deserved chance to play up front with “El Tigre” Falcao.
Chile on the other hand, comes into this match as one of the hottest teams in South America with 4 straight victories. After a slow start, Chile has caught fire in the past few games and are now well positioned to be one of the four teams in South America to qualify straight to the World Cup. Chile possesses an offensive threat with explosive attackers like Alexis Sanchez and Eduardo Vargas spearing the attack. I will look for these two players to be the focus of the Chilean offense when they enter the game in Barranquilla this Friday.
The concern for this national side continues to be its defense; their lack of concentration and defensive errors have made these qualifiers very complicated for this team. They will need to be sharp on this side of the ball if they want to keep up with a Colombian national team that will be looking to clinch its first birth to a World Cup in 16 years.
Colombia vs Chile Prediction
The Colombia vs Chile match is set to be a fierce battle between two nations that are looking to secure their spot in next year’s World Cup. Both have enough fire power to make this game go either way. Chile will need to have a sense of urgency throughout the match as they need a victory to officially clinch the World Cup. Having said that, I believe it will be the Colombian national team that takes over the show in Barranquilla this Friday. After missing the World Cup the past 16 years expect Colombia to come out firing and exposing a weak Chilean defense. The Colombia vs Chile match will end 2-0 in favor of Colombia.
Colombia vs Chile TV Schedule
The Colombia vs Chile match will be broadcast online LIVE this Friday, October 11, 2013 on beIN Sport Play at 2:00 PM Pacific.
