The Era of Colombian Soccer has Returned! The new jersey has brought Glory back!

A decade ago, the Colombian national team was considered to be one of the dark horses of the South American continent. A dream squad with hardcore defenders and lightning rapid attackers who during that time were greater than strikers of the Samuel Eto quality. However during these past years, it has been hard for Colombia to achieve any important status and nobody really knows why though. It’s like todays players aren’t playing for the hunger of glory, but only for the money and benefits. Last year, Coach Jorge Luis Pinto took over and came off with a great start, beating Argentina 2-1 in Bogota. After that day it was on. It seemed that Colombia could beat anybody. But this guy had to mess everything up by recruiting players that weren’t on the team that beat Argentina. He completely changed everything. Why the hell would you do that? He brought players who didn’t feel passionate for the team jersey. The colors didn’t mean anything to them and as these mistakes kept rising, he quit his job and personally, I believe that the new Colombian squad that Coach Lara has built is one that can go to the South Africa 2010. The defense is truly solid. In the back we have experience and endurance with players like Mario Yepes, who has been around for a while with the national team and “Pablito” Armero, who sweats the shirt like if tomorrow did not exist. Colombia needs players like these who don’t give up and with this new solid defense, Colombia’s goalie, Ospina will probably have a shutout every single game. Colombia’s new midfield is tremendous. Being led by the “magic” Macnelly Torres, Colombia has true vision for attack and for its defensive side. However, the truly astonishing side of Colombia’s new squad is that it somehow reminds you of the squad of 94’ that was able to beat Argentina 5-0 as the visiting team. Both Darwin Quintero and Pablito Armero are players who bring those memories back because they have that ’salsa dance’ style to the way they play which Colombia has always been known for. Over the past years people have been asking: what ever happened to that style of soccer that Colombians used to play? For those people who ask themselves that question, I say that it is back. This 2009 year will be a good one for Colombia. Even Roberto Carlos has said it, “Colombia has the sufficient talent to take their country to the World Cup.” I have a good feeling about this year and with our recent victory over Bolivia 2-0 , we’re looking foward to dancing over Venesuela and preparing ourselves for the ultimate match against Argentina at their house.