The main objective of Pékerman is to find alternatives for Juan Guillermo Cuadrado and Edwin Cardona

Leer en español: Selección Colombia: Conozca los convocados y sus posiciones

Less than three months before the Colombian debut on Russian soil, where the team will face the French national teams in Saint Denis and Australia in London. After these matches, the selection will culminate the preparation phase. Pékerman called 26 players to join the group and thus determine the final selection. These are the options that the Argentine coach will have and the new experiments he can do.

Goalkeepers:

Selected players: David Ospina (Arsenal) and Camilo Vargas (Deportivo Cali).

If no eventuality happens, the two goalkeepers will go to Russia 2018. Ospina undoubtedly owns the goal zone and Vargas is the coach's confidence. In reserve, there is José Fernando Cuadrado (Once Caldas) and Leandro Castellanos (Santa Fe).

Defenses:

Selected players: Cristian Zapata (AC Milan), Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham), Yerry Mina (Barcelona), Oscar Murillo (Pachuca), Bernardo Espinosa (Girona), Frank Fabra (Boca Juniors), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven), and Johan Mojica ( Girona).

Colombian defense zone is today one of the most solid in the continent, apparently four (Zapata, Mina, Sanchez and Murillo) of the five summoned players already have a fixed position, being Espinosa who will have to fight for his quota. William Tesillo (Santa Fe) and Jeison Murillo (Valencia) are reserve for this position.

As for wing-backs players, Fabra and Arias seem to have their positions secured, and it will be Mojica who will have to take advantage of these two games to look for a position. Farid Díaz (Olimpia) and Stefan Medina (Monterrey) appear as reserves for the bands, after having been called regularly during the eliminatory phase.

Midfielders:

Selected players: Carlos Sánchez (Espanyol), Abel Aguilar (Deportivo Cali), Jefferson Lerma (Levante), Wilmar Barrios (Boca Juniors), Mateus Uribe (Club America), Víctor Cantillo (Junior), James Rodríguez (Bayern Münich), Giovanni Moreno (Shanghai Shenhua), Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate) and Yimmi Chará (Junior).

Only James and Sánchez look like secured headlines. The other players, on the other hand, have two months to secure their position. Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Juventus) joined the call in order to be part of the group, although the pubalgia that suffers puts his participation at the World Cup in risk. In addition to the absence of Edwin Cardona, due to the sanction imposed by FIFA, the non-named Daniel Torres stands out. In reserve, there is Jhon Duque (Millionarios).

Attackers:

Selected players: Radamel Falcao García (Monaco), Carlos Bacca (AC Milan), Luis Fernando Muriel (Sevilla), Miguel Borja (Palmeiras), Duvan Zapata (Sampdoria) and José Izquierdo (Brighton).

Falcao, as a reference and natural leader of the team, is practically the only secured of the group of attackers called by Pékerman. The other players will seek to fight for their call to Russia, and in the process seek to be the "Tiger" partner.

Felipe Pardo (Olympiacos) and Aviles Hurtado (Monterrey) are in reserve for this position, although the call for these players is in doubt. The non-call of Teófilo Gutiérrez is quite noticeable, being one of the strikers that the coach knows best.

France, as a favorite to the title, will be a thermometer to measure the level of Colombia facing the World Cup. On the other hand, Australia is emerging as the rival to test the different alternatives that Pékerman took IGNORE INTO account.

Latin American Post | Rubén Casas
Translated from “ Selección Colombia: Conozca los convocados y sus posiciones”