Farid Diaz takes a throw in for Colombia. Photo Credit Lyndsay Radnedge

Santa Clara, CA — The FIFA men’s national team world rankings were released on June 2nd, a day before Colombia and the United States kicked off the 2016 Copa America Centenario. Copa America favorites Argentina, remained on top of the world rankings ahead of Belgium but moving up to third was Colombia and Los Cafeteros showed why they’re third in the world against the United States on Thursday night.

Colombia wasted no time taking the lead in front of a Levi’s Stadium crowd in Santa Clara that was packed with Colombia fans, scoring in the eighth minute off a corner. From there on Colombia was content to settle into their own end and effectively defend and prevent the US attack from getting any scoring chance.

Clint Dempsey had the best chances for the US, just curling a shot wide of goal in the 35th minute, having a headed shot cleared off the line in the 59th minute, and a great free kick saved by David Ospina in the 63rd minute. Other than that the Colombian defense was extremely effective at neutralizing the United States in the midfield and especially the final third.

The United States could have pulled themselves back into the game thanks to the Dempsey header in the 59th minute but Sebastian Perez was waiting on the post to clear the ball off the line, a credit to the Colombian defensive positioning. Dempsey would have a second chance to turn the tide of the match from a free kick just outside the box but David Ospina made a fantastic diving save to clear the danger, his only save of the match.

If there was any weakness from the Colombian defense, it was their tendency to commit fouls in dangerous areas just outside the 18-yard-box. They were lucky that the United States were only able to create one dangerous chance from those fouls but Costa Rica or Paraguay could exploit those chances better than the US did if they continue to give up those free kicks.

The early goal for Colombia allowed Los Cafeteros to play more conservative with the lead and therefore lead to fewer scoring chances but the eighth minute corner was a textbook example of training ground set pieces in action. Cristian Zapata used his teammate Daniel Torres and his marker, Michael Bradley, to pick off his defender Geoff Cameron and find open space in the box to power home a volley.

Juan Cuadrado (11) defends the ball from Jermaine Jones (13). Photo Credit Lyndsay Radnedge.

Colombia spent much of the rest of the match creating counter-attack chances by putting high pressure on the US midfield. The penalty kick was won directly because of that high pressure, forcing a turnover and putting the US defense on their heels. James Rodriguez took a perfect shot from the spot, sending keeper Brad Guzan the wrong way and placing the ball in the lower corner.

The biggest concern for Colombia will be the health of their captain, Rodriguez, who left the game with a shoulder injury. While there has been no report as to the extent of the injury, coach Jose Pekerman is been optimistic that Rodriguez will be healthy soon, via ESPN FC:

“I want to be optimistic,” Pekerman said. “James is very important for Colombia. We also know he has a lot of desire to play. But I think the medical professionals know to what extent he’ll be running a risk. We cannot take a fast decision.

“I don’t want to think of the negative. We will see, we will be optimistic, and we hope that James will recover well and we will have him on the field.”

Rodriguez has been a star for Los Cafeteros, winning the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup as well as the Goal of the Tournament. Losing Rodriguez would make the Colombians’ road to the final much more difficult after starting the tournament as one of the favorites, although they certainly have enough talent on the roster to still win their group and make a deep run in the knockout stage.

Colombia’s next match will be against Paraguay on Tuesday, June 7th at 7:30 PM PT from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.