Brazil v Colombia Tip: Hosts To Exit?

Only two teams have so far won all four of their matches at the World Cup and nobody has looked better than Colombia. Argentina and Belgium also recorded maximum points in the group stages, both looking unimpressive at times, before limping through after extra time in the round of 16. The Netherlands have technically matched Colombia, but they were minutes from exiting at the hands of Mexico before a last-gasp turnaround.

But for Jose Pekerman’s boys they have pretty much looked comfortable throughout. A 3-0 cruise against Greece was followed by a slightly tougher examination against the Ivory Coast (2-1) before Japan were hammered 4-1. In the last round, Uruguay were the latest victims (2-0) as Jose Rodriguez made it six in six for him personally, with a double complete with a wonder strike. At 15/4 (Bet365) he looks a snip in the anytime goalscorer market.

However, at the same price with the same firm, why not simply back Colombia to win in 90 minutes for the fifth time in the competition? The obvious reason is that they are playing the mighty hosts. The only problem with that assessment is that they don’t look very mighty.

They limped to victory against Croatia thanks to some dubious refereeing, were held 0-0 by Mexico, and were then the width of the crossbar from elimination against Chile. The Selecao are lucky to still be there and now they face their toughest challenge yet. The truth is, take away Neymar, and the lack of world class game-changers is acutely apparent.