On Sunday, Colombia vs Paraguay, two countries from South America, will play a friendly match at Florida’s DRV PNK Stadium.
Both teams are concluding their 2018 schedules with this match, as they will not be participating in the 2022 FIFA World Cup this month.
This is Colombia’s first game since a September friendly against Mexico. In that game, they beat their opponents 3-2 courtesy of two goals scored by Luis Sinisterra in the second half and the game-winning goal scored by Wilmar Barrios in the 68th minute.
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Colombia vs Paraguay Team News
On Thursday, Paraguay played Peru, another team who did not qualify for the World Cup and lost 1-0. This is Paraguay’s second friendly of the month.
Important wingers Sinisterra and Liverpool’s Luis Diaz will miss this match for Colombia as they continue to recuperate from foot and knee problems, respectively.
Olympiacos’ playmaker James Rodriguez will likely start at number 10 behind Radamel Falcao, a seasoned veteran and team captain.
Jefferson Lerma of Bournemouth will join center midfielder Wilmer Barrios, and the back four of Munoz, Sanchez, Cuesta, and Fabra will guard David Ospina’s net.
Balbuena, Paraguay’s central defender, will miss one game after receiving a red card on Thursday; Bruno Valdez is the most likely replacement.
Miguel Almiron, a standout for Newcastle United who is on the verge of making his 50th national team appearance, is slated to play on the right wing, while Jesus Medina will take up residence on the left.
Colombia vs Paraguay Preview
Despite already qualifying for the 2014 and 2018 World Cups, Colombia finished sixth in CONMEBOL qualification, one point below Peru in the inter-confederation playoff position. It, therefore, was unable to secure a spot in Qatar.
Consequently, Los Cafeteros fired manager Reinaldo Rueda after just 15 months in charge, and in June, they hired Argentine coach Nestor Lorenzo to take over.
In his first two games in charge, Lorenzo won great friendly matches against Guatemala (4-1) in New York and Mexico (3-2) in California during the September international break in the United States.
Second-half goals from substitute Luis Sinisterra and the game-winner from Wilmar Barrios helped Colombia come back from a 2-0 deficit against Mexico and preserve Lorenzo’s perfect record as coach of Los Cafeteros.
After only winning one of their previous four matches against Paraguay, Colombia seeks to extend their current undefeated run in all competitions to six games when they play Paraguay in their last game of the year.
The qualification bid that Paraguay submitted to CONMEBOL for the World Cup was unsuccessful. The team only managed to win three of its 18 matches, and they scored a total of 12 goals, which was lower than any other South American nation that was ranked in the top 10 overall.
Read more: FIFA World Cup 2022 Preview, How to watch, Fixture, and Everything you need to know.
Six of Los Guaranies’ last eight qualifying matches were lost by them. However, Guillermo Barros Schelotto has not been removed from his position as manager, and his team’s performance has improved marginally in recent matches, as they have now lost only one of their last five international matches.
However, that one and only loss came at Peru’s hands in a friendly game played on Thursday. Alex Valera scored the game’s lone goal by heading the ball into the back of the net to give Peru a 1-0 victory. Alexander Succar and Fabian Balbuena were both sent off after getting into a heated altercation in the match’s closing stages.
Before their loss to Peru, Paraguay did not let an opponent score against them in any of their previous three matches, and they will be eager to get back on track with a victory on Sunday. However, Los Guaranies have only triumphed over Colombia on one occasion in their most recent nine meetings, and that victory came on the road in October of 2017 when they prevailed 2-1.
Colombia vs Paraguay Prediction
The recent games Colombia has played have shown they are in good form and have won their last five matches. In that span of time, they have managed to score 12 goals while only allowing themselves to surrender four times and maintaining three clean sheets.
Paraguay, in contrast, has had a somewhat less productive showing in that period, scoring only four goals in their past five games. They’ve improved defensively, but they’ve still let in three goals.
Since Colombia has won their last three meetings with Paraguay, they will likely win this one.
I’m going with a Colombia win by 3-2.
