Can Colombia win the World Cup

Colombia have made the following picks for their 23 man squad for the World Cup in Brazil.

Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Nice), Faryd Mondragon (Deportivo Cali), Camilo Vargas (Santa Fe).Defenders: Camilo Zuniga (Napoli), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven), Mario Alberto Yepes (Atalanta), Cristian Zapata (AC Milan), Pablo Armero (West Ham), Eder Alvarez Balanta (River Plate), Carlos Valdes (San Lorenzo).Midfielders: Alex Mejia (Atletico Nacional), Freddy Guarin (Inter), Abel Aguilar (Toulouse), Aldo Leao Ramirez (Morelia), Carlos Sanchez (Elche), Juan Quintero (Porto), Juan Cuadrado (Fiorentina), James Rodriguez (Monaco).Forwards: Carlos Bacca (Sevilla), Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate), Jackson Martinez (Porto), Vctor Ibarbo (Cagliari), Adrian Ramos (Herta Berlin).

MY VIEWS ON THE SQUAD

Falcaos ommision due to injury is the major talking point here, but this is no one man team. It would be foolish  to write them off due to their star man not making it, as they still have an abundance of attacking talent. Jackson Martinez is a class act as he showed for Porto, Adrian Ramos has secured a move to Dortmund following an impressive season at Hertha, and Carlos Bacca was in the Sevilla side that lifted the Europa league. In midfield they have class acts in James Rodriguez, Juan Cuadrado and Fredy Guarin, and the defence was the meanest in the South American section, conceding just 13 goals with seven clean sheets in the sixteen matches, so overall they look well equipped to go well. They are many peoples dark horses for outright honours, and I can see why, especially as the tournament is in their native South America.

BETTING ON COLOMBIA FOR THE WORLD CUP

There are many interesting bets on Colombia from the different World cup markets and some that I like the look of are listed below.

                         BET                              ODDS  BOOKMAKER

Colombia to win the World cup      34.00    BET365

Colombia to reach Semi Final            5.50     BET365

Colombia to win Group C                   1.83      PADDY

To get more than 6 points in Group   2.70     BET365

To beat Greece                                      1.67    BET365

To beat Ivory Coast                               2.00     PADDY

To beat  Japan                                        1.83     PADDY

Jackson Martinez top Colombia Scorer 4.50 BET365