Our football match prediction:
Colombia
Match Time & Date:
03/07/2018
19:00 GMT
Prediction: 0-1
England
Otkrytiye Arena will host Tuesday’s football game between Colombia and England, who face each other in the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup. Los Cafeteros booked their place in the knockout stages thanks to a hard-fought 1-0 win over Senegal, but the match was marked by James Rodriguez’s injury. The Bayern Munchen ace is unlikely to recover in time to face England and, no doubt, he will be sorely missed in the Otkrytiye Arena showdown. England boss Gareth Southgate, on the other hand, rested key players in a 1-0 loss to Belgium, but he is likely to count on each and every of his first-team regulars against Colombia. Harry Kane has been scoring goals for fun at the showpiece tournament and seeing that the Colombians are likely to be without James Rodriguez in Tuesday’s clash, we predict that the Three Lions are going to make it to the quarter-finals.
Highlighted Player (Radamel Falcao):
Radamel Falcao, nicknamed the “Colombian Tiger”, is considered one of the best players in the history of Colombian football. The 177-cm-tall attacker is well known for his brilliant finishing and his header technique gives him an advantage in aerial battles with opposition defenders. Falcao was born in Santa Marta, Colombia on 10 February, 1986 and he started his senior career at Lanceros Boyaca. He played for Argentine giants River Plate between 2005 and 2009 and in 2009 he joined Porto. After scoring 41 goals in 51 league appearances for the Dragons, Falcao signed for Atletico Madrid on 18 August 2011 for a fee of €40 million. The Colombian attacker helped los Rojiblancos win Europa League trophy in 2012, scoring 12 goals in the process. He played for Monaco in the 2013/2014 Ligue 1 campaign and in 2014 he signed a loan deal with Manchester United. He scored just 4 goals in 26 league appearances for the Red Devils and was later loaned to Chelsea before returning to Stade Louis II.
Highlighted Team (England):
One of two oldest national football teams besides Scotland, England have been playing international matches since 1872, but the World Cup title won on home soil in 1966 remain their only major trophy up to date. The Three Lions narrowly missed out on the 1990 World Cup final, losing to Germany on penalties, while they were stopped in quarter-finals on no fewer than five occasions. England twice reached the European Championship semi-finals, in 1968 and 1996, but they have been pretty disappointing at the start of the 21st century, despite boasting arguably the strongest league competition in the world. Sir Bobby Charlton, Jimmy Greaves and Bobby Moore were among players who secured the first major international title, whereas Gary Lineker, David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney all played an important role during the modern age. Peter Shilton is the record holder with 125 caps for the national team, while Wayne Rooney surpassed Sir Bobby Charlton as the leading goalscorer in the England national team.
