14th Jun 2014 | World Cup
Colombia v Greece Tip: Scoreline Prediction
Greece have come to defend whilst hoping to snatch something against the run of play. It's hardly surprising they would adopt such a tactic - it won them the European Championship 10 years ago.
The opening salvo in Group C isn’t likely to be a classic and that owes more to Greece than Colombia. The 2004 European champions are a pretty dour bunch and against more expansive opponents they will cling onto 0-0 for as long as possible.
The warning signs are there given that two of Greece’s last three matches have ended 0-0. That was quite impressive against Portugal but when they did the same a few days later against Nigeria it suggested there was no Plan B.
Plan A has always been to defend for their lives and hope Konstantinos Mitroglou produces a moment of magic down the other end. But Fernando Santos’s star man has been cursed with injury problems since the turn of the year when he moved to Fulham. He’s barely played and can’t be relied upon at this moment in time.
Colombia suggested they were a pretty class act by finishing second in the competitive South American qualifying section, just behind Argentina. But their preparations have been hampered by injury to star player Radamel Falcao who will miss the whole tournament.
Whilst that is a blow, coach Jose Pekerman can at least turn to some other quality forwards to fill the void. Teofilo Gutierrez scored six in qualifying while Porto’s Jackson Martinez and Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca provide other credible options.
It’s hard to say who will step up for ‘the Coffee Growers’ but surely somebody will and one goal is liable to be enough against disciplined but limited opponents. Colombia are a best price of 19/4 (Ladbrokes) to win 1-0 and that looks about right.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 06:10 14th Jun, 2014 but subject to change
