Tuesday 3rd July 1900hrs Colombia v England Football – International – World Cup After all the hype and controversy in the build up to the Belgium and England game and what was the best route to the final, we can now get on with the actual football and determine just how genuine England’s chances are. They face a Colombia team who have shown both sides of their game in this tournament and with the stakes so high now, neither can afford to bring anything other than their best. Seven of the quarter finalists will be known by the time these kick off – preview of the game and selections for the best betting tips as Colombia take on England.
Colombia have dazzled at times and frustrated at others in this World Cup but they still won two of their three group games and finished top of their section. Taking the game against Japan out of the equation considering they were down to 10 men in the opening minutes, the 3-0 success against Poland was without doubt their best performance to date but they were laboured against Senegal and could have easily been behind before going on to win the match late on. Their opponents at this stage were always likely to be challenging with England and Belgium always going to be qualifying so the fact it is the former is unlikely to be too troubling. What will be more of an issue is the fitness of James Rodriguez who has been blighted with niggles from the beginning. He’s crucial to how this team plays and they’ll be doing everything to get him on the park.
Gareth Southgate has been the quiet man of English football for the majority of his career but his personality as a coach is forever evolving and growing during this World Cup. He has stood up to the media and his passion has shone through in each of England’s games so far. He will undoubtedly be judged negatively if his team fail to negotiate their last 16 match with Colombia having rested a raft of his first eleven against Belgium but he will see it as getting valuable rest into his key players, including Harry Kane. He’ll also be well aware that if they do win then they’ll have a match with either Sweden or Switzerland to reach the semi finals of the World Cup – something they’ve not done since 1990. They would have bitten your hand off for that scenario at the beginning of the tournament and now have to prove they are capable of taking advantage of it.
England v Colombia Betting Tips
These two met back in 1998 in the group stage and it was England who were victorious and ended up qualifying at the expense of the South Americans. Colombia had to wait 16 years to return to the World Cup and came back with a bang in Brazil, reaching the quarter final stage. That would have been their expectation once again but they have a challenge ahead of them in order to do that. England score goals but they have looked weak at the back and will be tested with the quality Colombia have in attack. If Rodriguez was fit I would be confident of his nation progressing to the last eight but with big doubts around his participation I am more inclined to go for both teams to score. It clicked in two out of three group games for both England and Colombia and I think it is the way to go on Tuesday as the second round comes to a close – and what a start to the knockout phase it has been.
Betting Tip Both teams to score – 5/4 @ 10bet
