Colombia opens World Cup with rout, Lorenzo urges more improvement

Colombia opened Group K with a 3-1 win over Uzbekistan at the Estadio Ciudad de México, but Néstor Lorenzo spent much of the postgame focused on what the scoreline did not show. Against World Cup debutants, Colombia controlled long stretches yet still looked too patient in possession and too thin in the final third before Jaminton Campaz sealed the result late.

“Estuvo muy ordenado, muy cerrado y nos costó llegar,” Lorenzo said, before adding: “Hay que mejorar un poco, terminar un poquito más la jugada.” Colombia had taken the lead through Daniel Muñoz, and Luis Díaz was the most disruptive player on the field, scoring once and setting up another, but the team never fully buried Uzbekistan when it had control. Lorenzo also said his defenders were pushed high, with the center backs near midfield, a deliberate risk against a side built to threaten with long balls and pace.

The result marked Colombia’s seventh World Cup and extended a record that remains uneven at the sport’s biggest stage. Before this tournament, Colombia had played 22 World Cup matches, with eight wins, two draws and 12 defeats, scoring 30 goals and conceding 33. Its best finish remains the quarterfinals in Brazil 2014, and James Rodríguez entered the tournament as Colombia’s all-time leading scorer in the competition with six goals. Lorenzo named a 26-man squad led by Luis Díaz and James for the campaign.

For Lorenzo, the tournament also carried a personal echo. It is his first World Cup as head coach after serving as José Néstor Pékerman’s assistant in Brazil 2014, and he has pointed to James Rodríguez’s goal against Uruguay at the Maracaná on June 28, 2014, the strike that sent Colombia into the quarterfinals, as his strongest memory with the national team. Colombia’s next tests come against República Democrática del Congo in Guadalajara on June 23 and Portugal in Miami on June 27, and those games will reveal whether the loose edges Lorenzo identified against Uzbekistan become costly against better opposition.