Rising force

Colombia looking up again after missing World Cup

PARIS (AP) -- Colombia's greatest coach is back and its clubs are performing at the highest levels in South America. The spirit it engenders could be enough to lift Colombia into the semifinals of the Confederations Cup.

"It's a great period for Colombian soccer," said coach Francisco Maturana. These days there are more players to pick from. Players are very mature, with great desire to win."

And no bigger challenge for Maturana than playing host and defending Confederations Champion France in Lyon on Wednesday. Colombia later plays New Zealand and Japan in its other Group A games.

Colombia no longer has Carlos Valderrama vision, and Tino Asprilla's lethal skills in front of goal don't command international headlines anymore.

Instead Maturana has been building the team from the back, with a stingy defense as a positive but a dearth of goals as a negative.

The last three exhibition games were good examples : 0-0 against Honduras, South Korea and Ecuador.

The country's heroes too have switched from the front line to the back. The two major stars are goalie Oscar Cordoba, who plays with Besiktas in Turkey, and defender Ivan Cordoba of Inter Milan.

Maturana has already taken Colombia to the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, and the title of the 2001 Copa America, their first one.

But Colombia's joy that year didn't extend to the World Cup by failing to qualify to South Korea-Japan edition.

With South America's qualifying to start next September, Colombia is seeking to amend previous failures.

"We won the Copa America, but the disappointment was huge when we didn't make it to the World Cup. Our objective is to win this tournament, but step by step, match to match," Maturana said.

"We have a group of players with a great winning attitude," he said. "Everything is attainable."

Also, Maturana hopes that the recent string of good results obtained by Colombians clubs in the Copa Libertadores tournament may transcend at the Confederations Cup. Both America de Cali and Independiente Medellin made it to the semifinals.

Forward Victor Hugo Aristizabal has just arrived on the scene after scoring a goal for champion Cruzeiro in the final of the Copa Brazil.

 

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