Colombia (National Football)

Colombia's chances of winning the World Cup took a big hit on Tuesday when it was announced that striker Radamel Falcao would not be able to participate in this year's tournament.

But even without him, Colombia is still the favorite to win Group C at 2-3 over Ivory Coast, Japan and Greece.

There isn't much doubt that Colombia will miss its star striker. Falcao, who wasn't able to recover from a knee injury in time to play in the World Cup, scored one-third of the team's goals during qualifiers.

With that said, Colombia is still loaded with offensive talent and should be led on offense by attacking midfielder James Rodriguez and winger Juan Cuadrado. In a group that doesn't feature any juggernauts, the fast-paced, attacking Colombian squad should be able to set the tempo and control most of its matches.

Colombia is going off at 33-1 to win the World Cup.

While Colombia received bad news on the injury front, Ivory Coast backers received good news when Yaya Toure was officially named to the 23-man roster. Toure enjoyed a sensational season for Manchester City with 20 goals and nine assists in 35 appearances.

But his status for the World Cup was up in the air when he injured his hamstring late in the season. With the announcement that Toure had made the team, Ivory Coast's odds to win Group C jumped from 4-1 to 7-2. The team is still a long shot to win the World Cup, however, at 125-1.

Japan (4-1 to win Group C) is a well-respected side that relies on strong technical play all around instead of on star power. A draw against the Netherlands and a win over Belgium over the last year show how dangerous the squad can be, making it a solid dark horse to emerge out of this group should Colombia or Ivory Coast falter.

Midfielders Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa are the leaders on offense, but a forward group led by Shinji Okazaki will need to have a strong showing for Japan to have a shot at advancing.

Greece (7-1) may not be a very exciting side, but it isn't a pushover, either. The defensive-minded squad is extremely stingy and more than capable of forcing a draw or two in the role of spoiler in Group C.

It will be hard for Greece to do much more than that, though, with a relatively weak attack.

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark and WorldCupOdds.net

While much of the pre-World Cup coverage of Colombia has concentrated on Radamel Falcao Garcia’s unsuccessful recovery from knee surgery, it is his Monaco teammate James Rodriguez who is perhaps even more important to Los Cafeteros.

Rodriguez’s slick dribbling, accurate crossing and eye for a through-ball have quickly seen him become Colombia’s primary creative force in the short time since his international debut in 2011. The 22-year-old has been a grateful recipient of the No. 10 shirt once worn by Carlos Valderrama, as he explained to FIFA.com in 2012.

[Valderrama] was a very intelligent footballer who could create something out of nothing as well as score goals... Since I was a young boy, I’ve always dreamed of wearing the No.10 shirt for Colombia, and luckily that’s what I’m able to do now.

Yet while Valderrama was content to pass on the torch, as per Deportescl.terra (h/t AFP), there are, in truth, few similarities between the pair in terms of playing style.

Valderrama, the wonderfully coiffured playmaker who was at the heart of the Colombia teams that qualified for three consecutive World Cups between 1990 and 1998, was an organiser of play—a tempo-setter. Rodriguez, on the other hand, is an explosive attacking midfielder, capable of making the difference in the final 30 metres of the pitch.

During qualifying, he scored in victories at home to Ecuador and away to Chile and Peru, provided two assists for Teofilo Gutierrez in the 4-0 win over Uruguay and won two penalties in the 3-3 home draw with Chile. It was Rodriguez who slipped in Falcao for the opening goal in Colombia’s 2-0 friendly victory over Belgium last November.

His successful ascension to the senior national team will have come as little surprise to those who have followed Rodriguez’s career from an early age.

As per El Espectador (in Spanish), he paid the youth team coach of his first club Envigado for extra training sessions in order improve his game. In Argentina—where he played for Banfield between 2008 and 2010—his dedication to self-development saw him compared to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Highly impressive performances for Colombia’s U-20 side—in which he formed a thrilling attacking triumvirate with Luis Muriel and Michael Ortega—resulted in him being parachuted into the senior national team for the start of the World Cup qualifiers. After a slow start, he has flourished under the command of Jose Pekerman, revelling in the trust afforded to him by the Argentinian coach.

Whether drifting infield from the left or stationed in a defined-central-role, Rodriguez is Colombia’s most dangerous attacking player, striking fear into opposing defences with the variety and vitality of his play. He is willing to shoulder creative responsibility despite his tender years.

Rodriguez comes into the World Cup on the back of an excellent first season at Monaco following his €45 million transfer from Porto last summer. He scored nine goals and provided 12 assists, as per WhoScored.com, and was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season after helping the principality club to a second-place finish.

He has the talent, and perhaps more importantly, the drive and determination necessary to become one of the world’s best players over the next few years. A strong performance at this summer’s World Cup could be a stepping stone to a move to one of Europe’s biggest clubs and Rodriguez is well placed to seize the opportunity with gusto.

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Colombia were one of the strongest teams in South American qualifying and have become a trendy pick to win the World Cup, as soccer hipsters latch onto them and other non-traditional soccer powers like Belgium heading into the tournament.    

But who is on this sneaky contender? Which players are likely to crack the starting lineup? And what's the latest on that superstar striker from Monaco trying to battle back from injury who everyone talks about when Colombia is mentioned?

Let's find out.
 

The Roster

Here is Colombia's full 23-man roster, courtesy of BBC Sport:

And here is the team's projected starting lineup:

Analysis

With Radamel Falcao officially out of the 2014 World Cup final 23-man squad, the pair of forwards that Colombia will utilize becomes the popular storyline. Thankfully for the club, they have a handful of talented options.

Jackson Martinez would be a popular pick for those who have seen him ply his trade for Porto. Teofilo Gutierrez isn't as well known, but he fits the team's style perfectly. And concluding the spoil of riches, the Colombians can also utilize Carlos Bacca (14 goals for Sevilla this season), Adrian Ramos (16 goals for Hertha Berlin) or Victor Ibarbo (four goals for Cagliari).

Colombia's wing players are set in stone, with Juan Cuadrado dipping and darting down the right wing and James Rodriguez playing the role of playmaker on the left. Rodriguez is this team's talisman and creative spark, and how he plays in Brazil will directly influence Colombia's performance in this year's Cup.

But the two were generally stifled in a 1-1 draw against Tunisia in March, a major worry for the squad if that trend continues in Brazil, notes Juan Arango of The Telegraph:

In the Colombian midfield, there was a major issue as Rodriguez was the man who was crowded around and saw his touches limited. If there is a player that Colombia depend on just as much or more than Falcao, it’s his AS Monaco team-mate.

James is the man who pulls the strings in the midfield and was the lone shining light in an encounter that wasn’t the most favourable for Los Cafeteros. When he did get the chances to create, he showed that he was the only player on the pitch that had clarity. Unfortunately for Colombia, those opportunities were too few and far between.

Colombia’s passes forward were a near-religious experience; especially playing the ball out of their own end of the pitch. There were some major issues establishing passing options to get to Rodríguez on a constant basis while Tunisia flooded the middle of the park. For every pass forward, there were two that went backwards and it hindered the generation of their offensive options with players like Cuadrado being neutralised.

If that persists in Colombia, it will be a short trip for the talented South American side.

The central midfield pair is less set in stone, though Abel Aguilar and Fredy Guarin would be logical choices in the role. Carlos Sanchez and Aldo Leao Ramirez are also distinct possibilities, and Pekerman will likely tinker with his players there depending on the matchup.

Centre-back will be another interesting position to watch. Cristian Zapata should get the nod for one of the two starting spots with the injury to Luis Amaranto Perea. Pekerman has also shown an affinity for 38-year-old Mario Yepes in the past, so the other centre-back spot looks to be filled.

Yepes is the team's leader, but his pace has significantly waned. Against the fast and athletic attackers of the Ivory Coast, Yepes likely would be more of a liability than a calming presence. 

Overall, this is a talented squad, but one whose chances at winning this year's tournament were far likelier before Falcao injured his knee earlier in the season. Still, in a winnable group, this is a club that should advance out of the group stage. 

Even non-Colombia fans were dismayed to hear back in January that Radamel Falcao had injured himself and would likely miss the Brazil World Cup, but there have been indications recently that the Colombian striker may recover in time to play in the tournament.

It would be something akin to a miracle recovery if Falcao was fit in time for the June/July championships, as hope was very dim when he first injured his anterior cruciate ligament while playing for club side Monaco in the French Cup.

As one of the world's premier strikers, Falcao's absence from the 2014 World Cup would be a major disappointment for football lovers everywhere.

Initial estimates were that he would need at least six months to regain his fitness, but as Eurosport reported at the time, the 28-year-old gave his supporters a small amount of hope via his Facebook page.

Falcao said:

I'm not going to hide that my sadness is huge, my heart is destroyed, but I'm hanging on to a hope the size of a grain of mustard and that's enough to believe that my World Cup dream is still alive.

God makes the improbable possible, I believe in Him.

 He also sent this tweet from his hospital bed in Porto, which had an optimistic tone: 

Desde Porto viendo al equipo, gracias por la fuerza que me dan, yo estoy acá a darles la mía!! pic.twitter.com/nrHCeHxAge

— Radamel Falcao (@FALCAO) January 26, 2014

Translated it reads: "In Porto watching the team, thanks for the strength that you're giving me, I'm here giving mine!"

As early as the first week of February, noises coming out of Monaco indicated that Falcao's recovery was going better than expected. 

Coach Claudio Ranieri had this to say on the club's website, as relayed by John Drayton of The Daily Mail:

I had Radamel Falcao on the phone yesterday.

He’s doing well and working hard.

His knee is reacting very positively, I think he’ll play at the World Cup.

Monaco also released pictures and videos of the Colombian's rehabilitation program, as positivity about his World Cup hopes increased. 

#ASMTV #EVENT One day with @FALCAO à 8:00 pm on http://t.co/CAIyZ0toq7! Watch the trailer --> http://t.co/JEFPuXGGEd pic.twitter.com/8Z0ZLjhMhY

— AS MONACO FC (@ASMFC_MONACO) March 14, 2014

The best news yet came on March 26 when Falcao's surgeon, Jose Carlos Naronha, announced that the elegant forward could be back in action by May.

Speaking to Portuguese radio station, Radio Renascenca, as reported by Paulo Freitas and Patrick Haond of Sky Sports, Naronha made the following pronouncements:

If the magnetic resonance imaging shows a darker aspect of the new ligament and an absence of inflammatory process around it, we will be able to let Falcao go on the pitch at the end of week 12.

He could then resume jogging without big changing of direction or rough acceleration.

Then, from the fourth month, he could be completely ready to play on the pitch, so would be ready for June 14 (Colombia's opening World Cup match with Greece).

Fantastic news for Falcao, Colombia and football fans all over the world.