01 Jun 2015
Hamilton, 1 June 2015. Colombia were forced to work hard for an opening win at the FIFA U-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015, having to withstand a resurgent Qatar in the second-half of their 1-0 win on May 31. It was a courageous but unlucky performance from the Qatari team - consisting entirely of former and current students of Aspire Academy - that would have deserved a point against a strong Colombian team that is also one of the favorites for the title.
A solitary Joao Rodriguez goal got the South Americans off to the perfect start against the Asian champions, and they looked to be cruising to a routine win only for the game to turn on its head after the break.
Both teams spent the early stages feeling their way into the game but as Colombia grew in confidence, suddenly everything clicked. Juan Quintero chipped the ball to Santos Borre, who laid the ball off perfectly into the path of Rodriguez. His finish was unerring, firing between the legs of Yousof Hassan.
Qatar were struggling to find their way as Colombia dominated possession and Rodriguez could have ended up with a first-half hat-trick. First, great control and a tight turn saw him blast a shot straight at Hassan, before Jeison Angulo's pass resulted in a mix-up at the back, with the Chelsea man – on loan in Portugal – almost able to capitalise.
The second-half saw things switch quickly though. Felix Sanchez clearly had some choice words and his side burst out of the blocks, putting Colombia on the back foot for the first time. A sublime through-ball, slicing through the right channel, found Amoez Ali. His cut-back fell to the feet of Jassim Al Jalabi, but the resulting effort only ruffled the side-netting.
Three minutes later though, they really should have been level. The same duo were involved again, with good strength from Ali to shield the ball inside the area seeing it shuffled across to Al Jalabi. A tackled denied him the chance at a shot, but it squirmed invitingly to Ahmed Alsadi only for his weak effort to be directed too close to Alvaro Montero.
Akram Afif tested Montero again from range, but delightful control from Alexis Zapata in the Qatari box could have settled the game. He juggled his way through after Borre's lay-off, but his wayward effort did not reflect the skill that created the chance.
Sultan Al Kuwari's sliced shot was the closest Qatar came to finding an equaliser as they probed in the closing stage but Colombia held out for the three points. Qatar will look to get off the mark against Portugal in their next game, while Colombia can secure progression when they meet Senegal.
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez:
My players performed at a high level; they tried hard and were up against a powerful team, one of the strongest at the event. We will analyse our strengths and weaknesses. We have [at least] two more games still to go and we will try to show the best of our abilities. We know that this is a great tournament with some very strong opponents, but with the attitude we displayed today, I'm sure we'll come away with something. We're not going to give in.
Colombia coach Carlos Restrepo:
We showed clearer thinking in the first half. In the second half Qatar reacted and we lost control of possession, so we were unable to threaten their box much. I'm very pleased because it was our opening game of the tournament and at times the team displayed a lot of personality in their play up against a very strong defensive unit. We have to be more consistent, though.
Source: http://www.fifa.com/u20worldcup