Belo Horizonte: Making a grand return to the World Cup after 16 long years, an attacking Colombia recorded their best ever win in the finals as they outclassed Greece 3-0 in a Group C match at Estadio Mineirao here on Saturday.
A sixth minute goal by defender Pablo Armero set the ball rolling for Colombia and then Teofilo Gutierrez scored his first World Cup finals goal in the 58th minute to leave Greece with a daunting task to save the game.
Adding insult to injury, young talent James Rodriguez netted a goal in stoppage time for a superb finish to the contest, which they dominated for most of the 90 minutes.
The South American side were missing star striker Radamel Falcao and centre-back Luis Perea from their ranks due to injuries but that did not stop them from playing their brand of football.
The Colombians played with good pace and unsettled Greece with an early goal through Armero.
It was a risky ploy to push the full backs up but it paid off.
Juan Cuadrado set it up for Colombia as he showed great skill to dribble past a Greek defender and fed a low ball in front of the post for Armero, who slammed it in to spark a celebration of a kind.
It was only the second international goal for the 27-year Armero in national colours.
Conceding an early goal was a worry for Greece, a side that had scored only 12 goals from 10 games during the qualification round.
Greece struggled to find an answer to Colombia’s tactics but gradually made it a contest with several raids.
They had a chance to get the equaliser in the 28th minute when Dimitrios Salpingidis tackled his marker to send a cross into the area but Panagiotis Kone’s shot went over the bar.
Three minutes later, Georgios Samaras darted towards the area from the left, got himself into a good position to aim at the post, but his strike was collected safely by Colombia keeper David Ospina.
The South Americans kept the lead intact going into the break.
The second half, after a sedate start, produced scintillating action from both sides but the day belonged to Colombia as they doubled the lead in the 58th minute through centre half Teofilo Gutierrez and Greece failed to grab their chances.
James Rodriguez sent the ball into the box, Abel Aguilar flicked it and Gutierrez slotted home the deflection from close range.
Greece did not help their cause by missing the easiest of opportunities to reduce the margin when Vasilis Torosidis volleyed a ball into the area but Theofanis Gekasm’s header bounced off the underside of the crossbar.
The game slowed down a bit with Greece almost having given up.
In a fantastic finish for Colombia, Juan Cuadrado ran forward into the box after a free-kick. Rodriguez found the ball and slammed a left-footer in to complete the grand win.
Fellow Group C teams Ivory Coast and Japan were to play at 6:30am IST on Sunday. (PTI)
