Colombia national team: Analysis of the good, bad and ugly of friendlies against Guatemala and Mexico, Lorenzo | Columbia exam

The much-anticipated start of the Nestor Lorenzo era in the Colombian national team has taken us out of the brutal night of Qatar’s exit from the World Cup and called for revenge at the 2026 Cup. A generous balance in the end but with many controversial edges in the game and its strategy.

Argentina won the two friendly duels agreed to this FIFA date, 4-1 against Guatemala and 3-2 against Mexico, with the latter’s comeback, true to some opinions, but contrary to others, expressed directly by him in the press. Conferences conducted by him. This is the good, the bad and the ugly of the FIFA Double Date:

good

1- Alternate. It seemed like quantum physics every time we talked about players with the best projection in international football who combine experience, international contact, talent and youth to find clues in a big team. Today everything is checked in the statistics of Luis Sinistera, Jorge Carrascal and John Zadar Duran. Indeed, when you add in young and more integrated players like Luis Diaz and Rafael Santos Borre, it becomes clear that there is no reason to force them to continue behind the veterans. Musicians of the second line. Lorenzo has shown enough that the veteran is no straitjacket and if that gives them enough confidence, they know how to take them out.

2- Inspiration elevates everyone. If Queiroz and Rueda lacked one thing in the team, it was spirit, excitement and fire in their feet when things went wrong. That too seems to have been taken now. The above-mentioned youngsters infect others with their ambition, this is how a Cuadrado or Barrios looked far from their position in the first half against Mexico, but secondly, he is excellent in a suitable interior position, and secondly with an excellent mid-range goal, dedicated to those who believe he is a Flintstone.

3- Have a goal! Must be the main message. In two games, 7 goals were scored and the team went without a goal in the same number of dates, which seeded Qatar for elimination. Three of those goals came from the emergence of Luiz Sinistera, and Boré and Aspirilla, a poor case of the forwards. They’ve always been there, rowing a few from the youth ranks, but now they have hope. If you give them more responsibility, so what?

bad

1-Experience as a straitjacket. It’s a matter of capitalizing on the players’ experience behind two World Cups, wanting to show them that despite their current status, they still have a lot of football left in them, and hoping that this management will give them the benefit they never got. The road to Qatar failed. Another is to force yourself to field seven of the eleven players at the World Cup against Guatemala and against Mexico, to prove the theory, without taking into account the reality of men like James and Falcao, so influential and historically but far from their best physical form. What a bad Alsade is beyond being a prospect with Queiroz, Ruda and now Lorenzo. Like his Uribe case. Everyone has a lot of work to do if they want to move up the charts soon, because the Rockets who command the attack today wait for no one.

2- Role of Luis Diaz. The euphoria would pass and he would keep scribbling the same unanswered question in DD’s notebook: How to round up the best man on the list? If it’s a Team, Sinistera, Cuadrado or Bore wears everything will be fine, he cheers saying it’s normal. But no. Díaz is still out of the attacking circle, having been a standout star at the last Copa America. There is no doubt that he would not have been lacking in the next four years of filming with his companions such as Borre, Sinistera, Karrascal… can be The truth is, matches pass and doubts linger: it wasn’t from Liverpool, it wasn’t from Colombia last year. This is already a sign.

3- He concedes a lot of goals. Well, it’s normal that a new coach isn’t guaranteed to get the defensive zone running, even if the players have been there for the last six or seven years, and new ideas are needed. Additionally, the successional quartet from Guatemala to Mexico is quite different. But scoring three goals in two games is not a good sign and it needs to be dealt with from the start. Does it have to do with Ospina and his undisputed role? Yes and no. Given that he can no longer save in one of the world’s five major leagues, he was able to get a little more practice at that position. But the post has to be won. And the job is not easy.

unattractive

-James’ gesture in his goal against Guatemala even led to memes. It doesn’t look good on him, he knows that, but no disrespect to the haters, who often come to collect what they know. He owes nothing to anyone. But even if Falcao doesn’t save him from the stakes, he’ll have to learn to act like one.

-The game against Mexico interrupted by homophobic chants at Levy Stadium in Santa Clara, California is a warning sign for fans who believe they can get anything by paying for a ticket: Tolerance for these acts of discrimination is universally zero and non-negotiable. It’s worth stopping to have fun.