Colombia display class against Ivory Coast

Both the teams coming from a win their first matches will look to play hard and go on top of the group with a win. Ivory Coast has a last chance this World Cup to make an impact before members of their “Golden Generation” retires. Colombia will also look to take their momentum after a 3-0 win into this game. With relatively “weaker” teams in the group, it was all to play for.

First Half: 0 – 0

The first half saw Colombia sit back and soak the pressure of the Ivorian attack while playing on the break. The African team looked more intent on winning. Though the final ball for Colombia was seen wanting more than often, they seemed the team more likely to score. Gutierez showed good pace and strength and was the most threatening of the Colombian attackers. Yaya Toure was clearly the player that the Colombians had singled out as the danger man and they did well to mark him and keep his impact on the game to a minimum. Cuadrado and company with their blistering pace and one-twos and started troubling the Ivorian defense well into the first half, but failed to complete any moves to put a score on the board. Both teams showed good commitment to the contest and there was always the feeling that something was about to happen. Gervinho definitely was the man making the moves for the Elephants while Bony did not look at the level he was at in the previous match.

Second Half: 2-1

The second half saw the same committed start from both teams, but Colombia seemed to have the edge on the break. In spite of the hard game, it was relatively clean with the first Yellow Card being shown to Ivory Coast defender Didier Zokora in the 55’. Toure seemed to be getting away from his man Sanchez more often and making some opportunistic passes into the box. However, Bony and Gervinho failed to net the ball. 60’ saw veteran and game-changer Didier Drogba come on for the Elephants. His impact was seen immediately with more strong forward drives by Ivory Coast putting the Colombian under constant pressure. However, the 64’ saw a wonderful header from a corner by James Rodriguez to put Colombia ahead 1- 0.

 5 minutes later, Ivory coast fell to another counter-attack from their corner which saw Juan Quintero score form a quick and well orchestrated move by the Colombians to make it 2 – 0 in the 69’.

 The impact of Drogba though began to show with his strength to hold defenters which freed up the likes of Gervinho. A move of individual brilliance saw the Ivorian skip past three defenders net the ball to pull one back in the 73’ to make it 2 – 1.

 After this it was all attack for Ivory Coast with Colombia playing on the counter. Kalou who had been brought on in the 67’ made a positive impact on the Ivory Coast front line and it seemed like they would score an equalizer anytime. A long range effort from the half-line by Quintero saw Barry make a close save, but the scores remained the same.

The game ended with Colombia going top of the table.