International soccer rolled on in New Jersey during this first window for national team matches since the FIFA World Cup, as Colombia met Paraguay in a friendly played in front of a sea of yellow jerseys at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.
Colombia disappointed its many fans in attendance by losing 1-0 to its fellow South American side, Paraguay prevailing on a 56th minute goal from Hugo Benítez.
While each team made a Round of 16 exit from this summer's World Cup, Colombia felt more like a team lost in itself. With a turned-over roster, the team did hold Mexico to a 1-1 draw last week in Baltimore. But against a rival CONMEBOL side, Los Cafeteros couldn't find any real consistency.
Heading into this friendly, Colombia and Paraguay had similar all-time head-to-head records. However, since the year 2000, Colombia has gotten the better of these match-ups. Friday marked only the fifth time since 2000 that Paraguay has earned a win against Colombia in 22 total matches. The last time the smaller country won was in October 2017 during a World Cup qualifier.
Colombia: 14 shots, 2 shots on target, 58% possession, 539 passes, 89% pass accuracy, 14 fouls, 3 corners, 1 saves
Paraguay: 5 shots, 2 shots on target, 42% possession, 386 passes, 82% pass accuracy, 20 fouls, 1 corners, 2 saves
Goals:
• Paraguay, Hugo Benítez, 56'
Attendance: 14,394
Colombia can't convert
Both sides also started this match with Major League Soccer players in their lineups. Vancouver Whitecaps FC had double representation, with Colombian right-back Édier Ocampo and Paraguayan midfielder Andrés Cubas. Paraguay also had Atlanta United FC's Júnior Alonso and Miguel Almirón in the starting XI, alongside former Inter Miami CF midfielder Diego Gómez.
Colombia head coach Néstor Lorenzo changed up his usual lineup, playing a 3-4-3 formation featuring Dávinson Sánchez, Jhon Lucumí, and Kevin Andrade as central defenders. Paraguay in turn was able to use that extra space in the back to get up the sides during counters.
Despite only having two shots in the first half, none on target, Paraguay felt like the faster and more threatening team. Colombia focused on possession and trying to break down the Paraguayan defense, but it held strong. This bled over into the second half even more, when Colombia held even more of the ball and had nine total shots but put none of themon target.
Irish Maliborski
The breaking point came in the 56th minute, when a long ball into the Paraguay box was weakly headed away by Davinson Sánchez. The header from Sánchez was intended for his fellow Colombian defender Jhon Lucumí, but he fumbled and allowed Paraguay's Hugo Cuenca to earn possession.
Cuenca set up Hugo Adrián Benítez, who was earning his first cap with Paraguay with the start, with an initial shot from Benítez saved by Colombia keeper Aldair Quintana. The rebound, however, wasn't saved, as Benítez jumped and right-footed the ball into the net.
Colombia tried to re-enforce the backline after this, but it wasn't enough to get the attack moving. Lots of substitutions were made, but none of the new additions could create any threats in the final third before the full-time whistle blew.
The announced crowd of 14,394 was dominated by Colombia fans, though the crowd represented a significant drop-off from the announced turnout of 25,728 to watch Mexico and Peru play to a 1-1 draw at Sports Illustrated Stadium earlier in the week on the night of Wednesday, September 30. Colombia still has one more match left to play during this September/October international break, as they'll face Peru on Tuesday, October 6 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL.
Paraguay ended its activity during this window with back-to-back shutout victories, having beaten Bolivia 2-0 at Audi Field in Washington, DC, before riding the Benítez goal past Colombia. Two different kinds of starts to this post-World Cup period for two South American teams looking to build back up for another run into the knockout stages of the 2030 World Cup, one that Paraguay is already qualified for, given they're set to be one of six co-hosts when the World Cup celebrates its 100th anniversary.
