José Pekerman said Colombia are confident of beating England even without their star player James Rodríguez, who was looking increasingly unlikely to be in the starting XI. The Colombia coach remained tight‑lipped about whether he expects Rodríguez to feature in the last‑16 game tonight before the Bayern Munich midfielder was forced to sit out a final training session on Monday evening.
Rodríguez sustained a calf injury during Colombia’s final group game against Senegal and looked forlorn as he sat on the bench with his teammates completing a training session in front of him. He did some light stretches on the touchline before being attended to by a physiotherapist.
The presence of the 2014 golden boot winner would be a boost to Colombia and Pekerman struck a hopeful note while heaping praise on his potential replacement Luis Muriel. “We had good news after the medical tests and after the MRI scan I knew he doesn’t have a serious injury, so we will see how he feels and as always we hope of course he will be able to play for the following games,” Pekerman said. Asked if Rodríguez would play a full 90 minutes he struck a cautious tone. “I will tell you one hour before game,” he said.
“But Luis is an option. He was great during the match against Senegal. He has skills that are really valuable, the ability to change pace, and is technically very gifted.”
Colombia lost their opening group game against Japan and required results from their final two games while England were afforded the luxury of resting players for their match with Belgium having already secured qualification to the knockout stage.
Pekerman claimed his team would take heart from their proven ability to perform under pressure. “We suffered a lot because we were the only team to lose the first game and still go through. Of course a team that can let their players rest has a certain advantage because in this tournament there are not many days to recover.But we’ve had very tough, decisive matches. We have proved we’re strong and very confident. So we compensate for the fact that the other team is able to rest more.”
