2014 World Cup – Round of 16
Colombia vs Uruguay
Estadio Jornalista Mário Filho (Maracanã) – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Saturday, June 28, 2014, 4:00 pm Eastern, TV: ABC, Univision
Money Line: Uruguay +315 / Colombia -103 / Draw +235
Point Line: Colombia -0.5 -103 / Uruguay +0.5 -117
Total: under 2.5 -155 / over 2.5 +135
Odds to Advance to the Quarters: Colombia -210 / Uruguay +180
All odds courtesy of Bookmaker
Five of the six South American teams made it out of the group stage of the World Cup, with the lone exception being Ecuador. That isn’t really a surprise as they have the advantage of playing relatively close to home on the same continent in Brazil. Four of those teams are in the same section of the draw in the round of 16, assuring at least one CONMEBOL team will make the semifinals. Colombia plays Uruguay Saturday in the famed Maracana in Rio de Janeiro. The winner of that match will play the winner of Brazil and Chile (earlier in the day in Belo Horizonte) in the quarters next week.
Colombia is playing in the World Cup for the fifth time overall and first time since 1998. they have never made it past the round of 16 before. This is only the second time they have advanced from the group stage. Colombia won all three of their games in Group C at the 2014 World Cup beating Greece 3-0, Ivory Coast 2-1 and Japan 4-1 last Tuesday
Uruguay is making their 12th World Cup Appearance and won it twice in 1930 and 1950. Uruguay is playing in their third World Cup of the last four including a surprising semifinal run in 2010. Uruguay finished second in Group D with 6 points to 7 from surprising group winner Costa Rica. Uruguay lost to Costa Rica 3-1, then beat England 2-1 and Italy 1-0 last Tuesday in Natal.
Uruguay leads the series against Colombia 18-11-9. Uruguay has gone 6-1-1 in the last 8 against Colombia. The two teams split their two CONMEBOL qualifiers with each winning easily at home. Colombia won 4-0 in Baranquilla in September of 2012, and Uruguay won 2-0 in Montevideo in September 2013. Uruguay won the only previous meeting in the World Cup in 1962 in the Group Stage.
Colombia is coached by Jose Pekerman. Colombia will use a 4-2-3-1 formation. Star striker Radamel Falcao was ruled out before the World Cup with a knee injury. Still Colombia has been impressive even without him. Forward James Rodriguez has scored 3 goals for Colombia so far in the World Cup and also has 2 assists. Jackson Martinez has 2 goals, but is expected to come off the bench. Pekerman rested some of his starters against Japan as Colombia was almost a lock to win the group including Rodriguez. Forward Juan Cuadrado has a goal and three assists. Keeper David Ospina has allowed 2 goals in three matches.
Colombia has 36 shots including 25 on target. They are outscoring teams 9-2 in the World Cup. They have been called offsides 6 times. Colombia is 12/29 on crosses. Colombia has won 16 of 61 tackles. They have 15 blocks and 14 saves. They have completed 885 passes.
Uruguay is coached by Oscar Tabarez. Uruguay will use a 4-3-1-2 formation. Uruguay has suspensions to a couple of key players. Striker Luis Suarez was suspended for four months by FIFA for biting an Italian player on the shoulder. It is his third biting incident in his career. Maxi Pereira is still suspended after a red card against Costa Rica. Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani will look to pick up the scoring slack without Suarez. Fernando Muslera is the keeper but sometimes struggles like did against Costa Rica. He has given up 4 goals in the tournament.
Uruguay has scored 4 goals and also give up 4 goals in three matches so far. Two of their goals came on set pieces. Uruguay has 32 shots including 19 on goal. They are 11/58 on crosses. Uruguay has been called for offsides 10 times. Uruguay had 7 blocks and 6 saves. They have won 10/67 tackles. Uruguay has completed 895 passes.
Without Suarez, Uruguay struggled badly against Costa Rica. He missed that match as he recovered from minor knee surgery at the end of May. Suarez scored both goals against England in the win. Uruguay’s defense will struggle to stop Colombia, but matches between these two teams usually produce a lot of goals. Colombia and Uruguay have combined for 32 goals in the last 9 meetings between the two. Colombia simply has too much and wins 3-2.
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