While their first World Cup quarter-final appearance ultimately ended in failure due to a rare moment of poor defending and a rash challenge by starlet James Rodriguez, that led to David Luiz’ stunning winner, Colombia will have left the Estadio Castelao feeling that it wasn’t just the majority of the 60,342 crowd in Fortaleza against them on Friday night.
As the match set off at an astonishing pace both sides continued the swashbuckling style at which they have approached these finals with Maicon, making his first appearance, joining fellow full-backs Marcelo, Juan Zuniga and Pablo Armero in setting the tempo for a fascinating contest.
However, after Brazil had taken an early lead through captain Thiago Silva the hosts almost instantly resorted to focusing on stopping the attacking forays of this talented Los Cafeteros side with a number of cynical fouls, as they attempted to deal with the suspension of their tactically astute defensive-midfielder Luiz Gustavo.
As referee Carlos Velasco Carballo watched on seemingly happy to allow the persistent fouling of Rodriguez, particularly by Fernandinho who was covering for the Wolfsburg man, the Colombians became embroiled in a first-half high on entertainment, but their attacking ability restricted far more than it ever should have been.
In a match that eventually ended with 54 fouls committed Jose Pekerman’s side were not innocent by any means, committing 23 of these indiscretions, however, that just four bookings were handed out highlight a significant leniency shown by the referee, even at a tournament where the statistics showing this as increasingly common.
The two bookings distributed to the hosts could hardly be ignored by the official, Silva obstructing goalkeeper David Ospina as he attempted to launch a swift counter-attack, while opposing number one Julio Cesar arguably could have seen red after bringing down Carlos Bacca for Rodriguez’ late penalty.
In hindsight, the Selecao have also been dealt a heavy blow from Carbello’s indulgent approach as star man Neymar was stretched off the pitch with minutes to go and their medical staff later confirmed that a fractured vertebrae means he will miss the rest of the tournament, but at least they have two matches to contest.
Had the Spanish official cracked down on the persistent fouling by the Brazilians earlier the match would no doubt have continued in the attacking spirit in which it had begun, but on a far more equal basis, the Colombians having 70% of their challenges penalised in comparison with Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side with just one in two punished.
That Fernandinho won just four of his 10 challenges, many of them overzealous if not reckless, and still walked away without a single caution was astonishing.
However, that Rodriguez, who bore the brunt of Brazilian physicality, was one of the few to criticize the refereeing performance highlights that it wasn’t the sole reason for Los Cafeteros’ failure to progress.
The somewhat recklessness at which they attacked the Selecao after conceding indicated that the size of the occasion was certainly having an effect on the players, competing in their nations first ever World Cup quarter-final.
Wideman Juan Cuadrado, phenomenal this season in the colours of Fiorentina, was too often seen miss-controlling the ball as the nerves seemingly got the better of him and his teammates and was substituted with 10 minutes remaining despite them still looking for an equaliser.
With such anxiety affecting their possession of the ball early on they were lucky not to be further behind before they finally took some control of the game, needing goalkeeper Ospina to pull off a string of saves to keep the deficit at just one, while Hulk also helped with some wayward efforts.
So, while Carbello played an undoubted part in their downfall the Colombians should also regret that they ‘played the occasion’ as much as they attempted to stick to their strengths, but against a Brazilian side with home advantage that was always only going to result in one outcome.
Follow Kevin Pogorzelski on Twitter: @rabbitrabbiton
