MEXICO CITY — Colombia got the win Wednesday night at the Azteca, beating Uzbekistan 3-1 to open their World Cup campaign. But coach Nestor Lorenzo came away from it with something to say about the noise. And not just the good kind.
A massive Colombian crowd turned the stadium into something close to a home game. That’s usually an advantage. Lorenzo called it “beautiful energy.” But he also said it weighed on his players in ways fans don’t always see.
“Emotionally, it weighed on some of the players,” Lorenzo told reporters after the match. “I think it had to do with the emotional burden of the first game and also with the responsibility of being favorites.”
This wasn’t a dominant performance despite the scoreline. Colombia controlled the first half after Daniel Munoz opened the scoring. But Uzbekistan came out after halftime playing more direct. They pushed Colombia deeper. They tied the game. And for a while, the team that was supposed to roll looked like they were holding on.
Luis Diaz bailed them out with a go-ahead goal. Then substitute Jaminton Campaz added one in stoppage time. But the 3-1 final made things look cleaner than they actually were.
Too much possession, not enough risk
Lorenzo pointed to a specific problem. His guys held the ball too much. They turned safe passes into a habit and stopped looking for the kill shot.
“Sometimes there was too much possession and too much fear of losing the ball,” he said. “Nobody was finishing the moves.”
Colombia created chances in the first half but didn’t bury them. Lorenzo said they could have built a bigger lead before Uzbekistan settled in. Instead, they let Uzbekistan hang around long enough to make things interesting.
“We had a very good first half. Then they started playing a more direct game and forced us deeper. It became a very physical match,” Lorenzo said. “In the first half we could have built a bigger advantage. We lacked finishing. We keep working on that constantly.”
The other issue was James Rodriguez. He’s the captain and the guy who usually makes things happen in the middle of the field. But Uzbekistan collapsed the spaces where he operates, and Rodriguez never really got going.
“It wasn’t his best match, but he didn’t have a bad game,” Lorenzo said. “They closed the spaces where James usually operates. He wasn’t the protagonist, but in possession he gave us a lot.”
Colombia sits top of Group K after Portugal and DR Congo played to a 1-1 draw earlier in the day. Their next match is against DR Congo in Guadalajara. Win that one, and they’re in strong position to get out of the group. But Lorenzo has questions to answer before then. Mainly: how do you get a talented team to stop playing scared when they’re supposed to be the ones in charge?
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