Colombia lost to France in friendly
After losing to Ireland, Jorge Luis Pinto's side 1-0 to France on Tuesday in an
international friendly game before the South American Qualifiers.
France won 1-0 over Colombia with a goal from Frank Ribery (penalty) on Tuesday
in a friendly game held at Saint Denis stadium in Paris.
Despite the loss, Colombia profited from it since the South American Qualifiers
games against Peru (June 14) and Ecuador (June 18) are on the horizon.
The runner-up in the last FIFA World Cup held in Germany ran the show from the
very beginning by taking control of the ball, and by reaching keeper Agustin
Julio faster than their opponent.
As time went by, Colombia got more relaxed, started playing a little bit better
though they couldn't keep the ball when they got it.
At minute 8, Juan Carlos Escobar shook the few Colombian who attended the game,
but the shot crashed into the right post.
So, the team coached by Jorge Luis Pinto started to believe a little bit more in
themselves as France were waiting for a counterattack to open the score; maybe
they are thinking about the upcoming Euro 2008...
At minute 22, Cristian Zapata fouled Thierry Henry inside the box. Of course,
British referee called the penalty, and Frank Ribery turned the penalty into the
first and the only goal of the game.
From then on, Colombia started falling apart, while France found support in
their experience and their top-quality players.
One of these players was Karim Benzema, who missed an avalanche of goals at
minutes 35, 38 and 39; as a result, Colombian keeper Agustin Julio became the
hero of the evening.
In the second half, Colombia had one thing in mind: to restore the equalizer,
and they could have done it with a shot from Giovanni Hernandez at minute 49.
Meanwhile, keeper Agustin Julio kept saving his team from more shots from Ribery
and Henry.
France got the win, and now they finally can get focused on Romania, their first
opponent in Euro 2008.
Keep on watching the 2010 World Cup South American Qualifiers on JumpTV.