26′ Again Colombia are in possession as they look for a way to break down Brazil. Tite’s side are apparently very comfortable to soak up pressure and hit on the counter-attack, which almost came to fruition through Paqueta just over 10 minutes ago.
24′ Sandro’s quick throw-in is dummied intelligently by Neymar for the run of Paqueta, who gets onto the ball and fires a rushed cross to the far post which drifts wide for a goal-kick.
22′ Neymar’s deep corner is again hit in search of Marquinhos, but the Colombia defence is a well-drilled unit which looks up to the task of defending the Brazil set-pieces.
20′ GREAT DEFENDING FROM MARQUINHOS! Quintero bursts through midfield and plays a lovely curling pass with his weaker foot out to the left for Dias. The rapid winger looked to be through on goal but an incredible backtracking run from the Brazil captain stops the winger dead in his tracks as he wins possession back for the Selecao.
18′ Colombia are again in Brazil’s half as they look for a way to break down the structured visiting defence, but tight marking from Danilo and Marquinhos on the right force the Cafeteros back into their own half before coming again.
16′ Neymar’s corner looking for the head of Marquinhos is cleared away at the near post by Mojica – whose subsequent forward thrust wins his side a throw-in.
14′ BRAZIL GO JUST WIDE! Neymar drops back into a playmaking role, allowing Paqueta to run into the penalty area while the PSG forward holds onto possession 18 yards out. The run of the Lyon midfielder takes him between the centre-backs, but his diving first-time effort is put narrowly past the post and out for a goal-kick!
12′ Paqueta has a sight at goal from a good distance away but lines up a left-footed effort anyways in an attempt to test Ospina. It’s a comfortable save in the end though as it skips up conveniently.
10′ Martinez gets to the edge of the box and plays a low pass across the face of goal for Falcao, which puts Militao on high alert. The centre-back cuts across his target and wins the ball first and cleanly – before hoofing it upfield.
8′ Colombia are looking lively in the opening stages as they control possession and the tempo of the match. Brazil are only able to scramble the ball out for an opposition throw-in as they are failing to deal with Colombia’s switch of play to the wings.
6′ Alisson comes extremely far out of his penalty area to beat Martinez to the ball, dashing off his line before coolly claiming possession with his feet and making a pass out in front to Militao. The Liverpool keeper is exceptional as a ball-playing shot-stopper and he’ll look to spark forward movements for his side at every opportunity.
4′ GREAT CHANCE! Quintero plays a lovely pass over the top of the defence from the set-piece, but Mina is unable to turn his header on target as Alisson can watch the effort go wide.
3′ Barrios’ quick feet in midfield gets Fred in trouble as the Manchester United player mistimes his tackle and brings down the Colombia international. It’s a free-kick deep in midfield.
1′ Brazil get the match underway from the kick-off!
Brazil make a formation change, as well as four personnel changes from their 3-1 win over Venezuela, as Tite forsakes his familiar 4-4-2 for a 4-3-3. Sandro is back at left-back displacing Arana, while Militao replaces Chelsea’s Silva at centre-back. Fred gets the nod ahead of Gerson in midfield and in attack, the return of Neymar sees Ribeiro dropped to the bench.
Colombia make three changes to the XI that earned a 0-0 draw with Uruguay last time out. Lerma replaces Uribe in central midfield, while Juan Cuadrado’s unavailability means Quintero gets the start on the right wing. The final switch is in attack, where Martinez is preferred to Borre as Falcao’s strike partner.
BRAZIL SUBS: Ederson, Weverton, Emerson, Thiago Silva, Lucas Verissimo, Guilherme Arana, Edenilson, Everton Ribeiro, Antony, Raphinha.
BRAZIL XI (4-3-3): Alisson; Danilo, Eder Militao, Marquinhos, Alex Sandro; Fred, Fabinho, Lucas Paqueta; Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Barbosa, Neymar Jr.
COLOMBIA SUBS: Camilo Vargas, Aldair Quintana, Daniel Munoz, Davinson Sanchez, Eder Alvarez, William Tesillo, Gustavo Cuellar, Matias Uribe, Luis Sinisterra, Yerson Candelo, Duvan Zapata, Rafael Santos.
COLOMBIA XI (4-4-2): David Ospina; Johan Mojica, Carlos Cuesta, Yerry Mina, John Medina; Luis Diaz, Jefferson Lerma, Wilmar Barrios, Juan Quintero; Radamel Falcao, Roger Martinez.
With 15 minutes to go before kick-off, let’s take a look at the team news – starting with our hosts!
Brazil have put their Copa America disappointment behind them as they continue their 100% qualifying campaign, with the Selecao winning nine of their first nine matches. Tite’s side faced a tough test last time out against a determined and effective Venezuela, managing a 3-1 victory despite the absence of key figures in Neymar and Casemiro. With the former seemingly back in action today, Colombia will be in for a stern test defensively.
Currently occupying fifth place, Colombia are in position for an inter-federation play-off as things stand. Two points removed from an automatic qualification spot, coach Reinaldo Rueda will be hoping for a similar performance as last time, when the Cafeteros pushed Brazil all the way and made life extremely difficult for the table toppers, only to lose to a 100th minute Casemiro strike. Luis Diaz will once again be the main threat for Colombia, with the Porto winger netting three times in his last five international appearances.
Hello and welcome to our LIVE commentary of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier between Colombia and Brazil!
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