Fast play at Soccer City tonight
Fast ground play on the cards tonight
Posted: 2010-05-27 11:47
Mexico-based striker Jackson Martinez says the 'Coffee Growers' are fully aware that Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira will be going all out tonight in view of the fact that the Colombians are the most experienced side the South Africans have faced in their preparations leading up to the World Cup.
“They are expecting to see more speed, a higher level of technical play, particularly with the ball on the ground,” says the right-footed hitman.
Speaking in a reported published in Medellin, Martinez said coach Hernan Gomez will use goalkeeper David Ospina; Camilo Zúñiga, Cristian Zapata, Mario Yepes, Pablo Gunsmith; Freddy Guarín, Victor Ibarbo, Adrián Branches, Abel Aguilar, Giovanni Moreno and himself as the core of tonight's squad.
“Our objective today is to consolidate the team as a 'family' unit and to boost our confidence. We are aiming to win and that is the vision of 'Professor Gomez. He wants us to identify ourselves on the pitch with a good, quality performance.”
He adds that the Colombians will not be intimidated by the blare of vuvuzelas as they were exposed to the sound when they attended Bafana Bafana's match against Bulgaria earlier this week.
The Colombians held a full practice yesterday with their full squad of 21 players following the arrival of Ospina from Paris.
The minder, who turns out for Nice and was delayed by visa problems, along with assistant coach Leonel Alvarez who had commitments back in Medellin, were the last to arrive in the camp.
The South Americans, who are ranked 34th in the world – a full 56 places higher up the ladder than Bafana Bafana – have brought a strong squad to South Africa.
Included in their team is veteran defender Ivan Cordoba, who has just won a treble with Italian club Internazionale, and English-based striker Hugo Rodallega who had a good season with Wigan Athletic in the Premier League.
Colombia finished a disappointing seventh in the 10-team South American 2010 World Cup qualifying group with a record that reads Played 18, Won 6, Drew 5and Lost 7.
However, included in these results were victories over World Cup qualifiers Argentina (home) and Paraguay (away) as well as two goalless draws in which they held the mighty Brazilians to stalemates.
Parreira will be using tonight's match to make his final decision on the squad list to be submitted to Fifa by June 1.
He seems to have settled on the majority of the team but there are still a few places up for grabs that will be decided in the encounter against Colombia.
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