Colombia vs. Greece: Film Focus on Jose Pekerman's Free-Flowing Attack

Source: bleacherreport.com - Saturday, June 14, 2014 Colombia returned to the FIFA World Cup 2014 with a bang, bagging an easy 3-0 victory over Greece in Group C's opening game. Pablo Armero scuffed an effort over the line early on to give the Cafeteros an early lead, and after a little Greek pressure in the second half, Teofilo Gutierrez added to the scoreline from a set piece. James Rodriguez sealed it after a lovely team move.   Formations and XIs Victor Ibarbo was the surprise selection for Colombia, playing on the left flank opposite Juan Cuadrado and forcing Teofilo into a No. 9 role. James Rodriguez tucked in as a No. 10. Greece played a very deep, defensive 4-3-3 setup with Theofanis Gekas starting up front ahead of Kostas Mitroglou and Panagiotis Kone moving forward as the most offensive midfielder.   Approaches Greece's defensive setup is well known: They sit in a low block, pack numbers behind the ball and try to break through Georgios Samaras and Dimitris Salpingidis . Usually the two just run in straight lines for miles, but on Saturday they were happy to win free-kicks and allow their side to reconfigure higher up the pitch. The Piratiko showed some willingness to build play from the defensive and middle thirds—far more than we're historically used to anyway—and at half-time boasted 55 percent possession of the ball. Colombia, on the other hand, rarely hit long balls unless they were carefully considered in behind the defence. They were tough to find as Greece sat deeAll Related | More on Colombia

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