2014 World Cup Match Preview: Colombia - Ivory Coast

Thursday June 19th, 2014

Group C

Colombia (3 points, 1st in Group) vs. Ivory Coast (3 points, 2nd in Group)

Colombia holds the tie-breaker based on a superior goal differential

Kickoff: 12 pm Eastern / 9 am Pacific

Television: ESPN

Venue: Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasilia

Projected Starting Lineup for Colombia (4-2-3-1):

David Ospina

Juan Camilo Zuniga, Cristian Zapata, Mario Yepes, Pablo Armero

Abel Aguilar, Carlos Sanchez

Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, James Rodriguez, Victor Ibarbo

Teofilo Gutierrez

Projected Starting Lineup for Ivory Coast (4-2-3-1):

Boubacar Barry

Serge Aurier, Kolo Toure, Sol Bamba, Arthur Boka

Cheick Tiote, Serey Die

Gervinho, Yaya Toure, Salomon Kalou

Wilfried Bony

The inside position for claiming the top spot in Group C is up for grabs on Thursday morning in Brasilia when Colombia and Ivory Coast take the field. While both teams got wins in their previous matches, they took different paths to earn the three points.

Colombia jumped out early on Greece with a goal in the 5th minute from Pablo Armero giving them the chance to drop back defensively. It was the perfect start for the South Americans due to Greeks heavy reliance on using their defense to spring counter-attacks. The early goal forced Greece to move forward with numbers to which they were unsuccessful only tallying two shots on target. The South Americans would be much more efficient with their shots with three goals on six shots on targets.

The Ivory Coast on the other hand actually conceded the first goal of their match to Japan in the 16th minute. It helps that Ivory Coast is not afraid to push forward in the attack as they scored twice in two minutes to secure the points. Wilfried Bony and Gervinho picked up the goals for the Africans.

If you do not factor that all of the clubs in the final two match will be playing desperate football to avoid elimination, this may be the most entertaining match of the day. Both clubs like to let their full-backs loose to jump into the attack which could lead to some end-to-end action.

Prediction: Colombia 2, Ivory Coast 1. The South Americans will book their ticket into the knockout round but it will not be easy.