Colombian coach, Eduardo Lara has praised his players fighting spirit in their 3-2 comeback win against Costa Rica in the round of 16 match at the ongoing FIFA U-20 World Cup.

“It was a difficult day for our players. With the resignation of (senior boss) Hernan Dario Gomez, the national set-up lost its leader today. The head of our family is leaving, and that hurts. We had a very tricky first half, with my midfielders Michael Ortega and James Rodriguez struggling to find each other. I spoke to the lads at half time, just to tell them to play their game, to keep battling, to try and find spaces and spread the play more.

“After the Costa Ricans scored those two goals in three minutes I was worried.

They played very intelligently, particularly in midfield, and showed their ability to quickly get forward in attack. That’s why I decided to introduce Sebastian Perez into the middle of the park, to try and balance things out a bit. Next up are Mexico, who are a great team. We played very well against them at the Toulon Tournament but every match is different”, added Lara.

Colombia converted an 11th-hour penalty to complete an improbable comeback and eliminate Costa Rica. James Rodriguez was the player who held his nerve to snatch a 3-2 win and send a sell-out crowd in Bogota into ecstasy, after Pedro Franco got them on level terms 11 minutes from time.

On a cold night in Bogota, Colombia started brightly, with Michael Ortega and Jose Valencia registering shots on goal. Joel Campbell responded for Costa Rica midway through the half, cannoning the ball against the crossbar.
Valencia did the same from fully 35 yards on 35 minutes, to gasps of despair from the home supporters, before the first half ended goalless.

Colombia broke the deadlock on 56 minutes. Michael Ortega threaded a delightful pass behind the Costa Rica defence, which Luis Muriel outsprinted en route to poking the ball past goalkeeper Aaron Cruz.

The crowd went wild, but they were silenced seven minutes later and dumbfounded two minutes after that. First, Juan Golobio’s incredible, low pass picked out John Ruiz, who stroked home the equaliser. Then, Mynor Escoe slalomed his way into a shooting position before firing home from the edge of the box to make it 2-1.

The clock seemed to be ticking down rapidly for the Colombians, but they were immensely relieved on 79 minutes when Franco headed home from close range.

Extra time appeared on the cards but, in the third minute of injury time, Duvan Zapata was felled in the area and Rodriguez made no mistake from 12 yards.

Colombia were in the last eight. Bliss overcame ‘El Campin’.
Also speaking, Costa Rica coach,.Ronald Gonzalez, rued their ouster but thumped up his players for putting up a splendid performance even in defeat.

“Today’s game was without doubt my team’s best performance of the tournament. We showed desire from start to finish and really caused them problems. I’m sad to have lost but I’m proud of my players: they proved that they’re brave and that we’ve got a great team. I’d have liked them to have shown that in our previous matches too.

“After the (group) match with Ecuador we did a lot of work on the players’ attitude, trying to get them to believe in their own ability. This evening, after we’d taken a 2-1 lead, Colombia put us under a lot of physical pressure and we started to lose our grip on midfield – we let them take the initiative.

“That had been the key for us, having control of midfield and getting forward quickly. That meant that, for the most part, we were in control of this match. As the game went on, thanks to the fans’ backing and their great players, the Colombians managed to overhaul us.”