Despite the absence of Falcao, Colombia are expected to claim the three points when they clash with Venezuela in Barranquilla on Friday.
Colombia will be after their second consecutive victory of the 2014 South American World Cup qualifiers when they take on Venezuela at the Metropolitano stadium in Barranquilla on Friday. Colombia come into the match after picking up a valuable 2-1 victory over Bolivia in La Paz in Round 2 of the qualifiers last month.
However, Atletico Madrid star, Radamel Falcao Garcia, who scored the late winner against Bolivia, will miss the match after sustaining a muscle injury in a recent training session, when everything indicated that he would start in Colombia's attack. Falcao will be replaced by Jackson Martinez, who plays for Jaguares de Chiapas of Mexico.
Valenciennes midfielder Carlos Sanchez was also in doubt for the match after suffering a knock to his knee, but since then he has recovered and could well start the game from the kick-off.
Despite the absence of Falcao, Leonel Alvarez's side are highly motivated for the match after claming a rare win in Bolivia in the previous round of the qualifiers. However, Colombia can't be overconfident as they are up against an equally motivated Venezuela, who inflicted their first ever defeat upon Argentina in their last game.
Venezuela arrive in Barranquilla on top of their game, and will definitely give Colombia a run for their money. Cesar Farias, the coach of Venezuela, tried to help his players adapt to the hot and humid conditions of Barranquilla by setting up a brief training camp in Maracaibo, a Venezuelan city which has a similar climate.
According to Farias, "The humidity and the high temperatures of Barranquilla are important factors which must be considered," if Venezuela desire to return home with a positive result.
In selecting his starting eleven, Farias has had a couple of doubts due to injuries sustained by certain players. Atletico Bilbao defender Fernando Amorabieta, who scored Venezuela's winner against Argentina, isn't at his one-hundred percent, but his inclusion in the starting eleven will be decided moments before kick-off.
In reference to what can be expected of the match, Farias stated that Colombia "have very explosive players and we have to get used to that and try to counter them in order to acquire positive results." As they proved against Argentina last month, Venezuela have defenders that are capable of stopping the world's best strikers.
The last time Venezuela travelled to Colombia to confront a World Cup qualifying match against the hosts was in November of 2007, when they returned home with a narrow loss.
However, Atletico Madrid star, Radamel Falcao Garcia, who scored the late winner against Bolivia, will miss the match after sustaining a muscle injury in a recent training session, when everything indicated that he would start in Colombia's attack. Falcao will be replaced by Jackson Martinez, who plays for Jaguares de Chiapas of Mexico.
Valenciennes midfielder Carlos Sanchez was also in doubt for the match after suffering a knock to his knee, but since then he has recovered and could well start the game from the kick-off.
Despite the absence of Falcao, Leonel Alvarez's side are highly motivated for the match after claming a rare win in Bolivia in the previous round of the qualifiers. However, Colombia can't be overconfident as they are up against an equally motivated Venezuela, who inflicted their first ever defeat upon Argentina in their last game.
Venezuela arrive in Barranquilla on top of their game, and will definitely give Colombia a run for their money. Cesar Farias, the coach of Venezuela, tried to help his players adapt to the hot and humid conditions of Barranquilla by setting up a brief training camp in Maracaibo, a Venezuelan city which has a similar climate.
According to Farias, "The humidity and the high temperatures of Barranquilla are important factors which must be considered," if Venezuela desire to return home with a positive result.
In selecting his starting eleven, Farias has had a couple of doubts due to injuries sustained by certain players. Atletico Bilbao defender Fernando Amorabieta, who scored Venezuela's winner against Argentina, isn't at his one-hundred percent, but his inclusion in the starting eleven will be decided moments before kick-off.
In reference to what can be expected of the match, Farias stated that Colombia "have very explosive players and we have to get used to that and try to counter them in order to acquire positive results." As they proved against Argentina last month, Venezuela have defenders that are capable of stopping the world's best strikers.
The last time Venezuela travelled to Colombia to confront a World Cup qualifying match against the hosts was in November of 2007, when they returned home with a narrow loss.
