Colombia were held to a frustrating draw by Venezuela in a match played under torrential rainfall.
Colombia could only afford a 1-1 draw with Venezuela in the third round of South American qualifying for Brazil 2014 at the Metropolitano stadium in Barranquilla on Friday.
Despite torrential rainfall, Colombia started strongly and went ahead in the 11th minute when after a fine interchange of passes, Freddy Guarin sent a long-range missile into the top right hand corner of Renny Vega's goal. Guarin dedicated the goal to Atletico Madrid striker Falcao, who missed the match due to injury.
Venezuela tried to react after conceding the goal, particularly through Cesar Gonzalez and Juan Arango, who both looked very lively. Colombia for that matter intended to double their advantage and would have done so had Vega not kept out goal-bound efforts from Jackson Martinez, Dorlan Pabon and Teofilo Gutierrez.
In the second period, the rainy conditions settled, however, the flooded pitch was very heavy and didn't allow either side to play fast attacking soccer.
Colombia controlled the flow of the match, and they created several opportunities to go further ahead, with Gustavo Bolivar shooting over the bar in the 58th minute, before efforts from Gutierrez and Martinez also came close to finding the back of the net.
However, as the half progressed Venezuela came more and more into the match, and they also created a few decent opportunities to level the score. Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina was kept very busy, due to the aggressiveness of the visitors. Venezuela, who beat Argentina 1-0 last month, looked very dangerous each time they broke on swift counterattacks, especially through key player Arango.
Finally, after much pressure, Frank Feltscher drew Venezuela level in the 78th minute when he pounced on a horrible defensive error from Amaranto Perea to slot past Ospina without any problems.
From that instance, Colombia pushed their men forward in an attempt to score a late winner, but despite the support from the strong 40,000 crowd at the Metropolitano stadium, they failed to beat Vega for a second time.
Despite torrential rainfall, Colombia started strongly and went ahead in the 11th minute when after a fine interchange of passes, Freddy Guarin sent a long-range missile into the top right hand corner of Renny Vega's goal. Guarin dedicated the goal to Atletico Madrid striker Falcao, who missed the match due to injury.
Venezuela tried to react after conceding the goal, particularly through Cesar Gonzalez and Juan Arango, who both looked very lively. Colombia for that matter intended to double their advantage and would have done so had Vega not kept out goal-bound efforts from Jackson Martinez, Dorlan Pabon and Teofilo Gutierrez.
In the second period, the rainy conditions settled, however, the flooded pitch was very heavy and didn't allow either side to play fast attacking soccer.
Colombia controlled the flow of the match, and they created several opportunities to go further ahead, with Gustavo Bolivar shooting over the bar in the 58th minute, before efforts from Gutierrez and Martinez also came close to finding the back of the net.
However, as the half progressed Venezuela came more and more into the match, and they also created a few decent opportunities to level the score. Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina was kept very busy, due to the aggressiveness of the visitors. Venezuela, who beat Argentina 1-0 last month, looked very dangerous each time they broke on swift counterattacks, especially through key player Arango.
Finally, after much pressure, Frank Feltscher drew Venezuela level in the 78th minute when he pounced on a horrible defensive error from Amaranto Perea to slot past Ospina without any problems.
From that instance, Colombia pushed their men forward in an attempt to score a late winner, but despite the support from the strong 40,000 crowd at the Metropolitano stadium, they failed to beat Vega for a second time.
