Can Colombia cover for wounded ‘Tiger’

          The 28-year-old scored nine goals in 13 matches as his country finished second to Argentina in the South American group, but he damaged knee ligaments playing for Monaco in the French Cup in January.

          With just 20 days to the big kick-off in Brazil a nation, its fans, and of course the coach, Jose Pekerman, are desperate for this powerful striker, nicknamed the Tiger, to command the Colombian attack.

          However, let’s not forget there’s plenty of back-up. We’d better consider the options. What about Carlos Bacca? He was a revelation in La Liga and a Europa League champion with Sevilla.
Or Jackson Martínez, who scored most goals among Colombians in European football this season. He was also the top scorer for Porto in Liga Sagres.

         Teofilo Gutierrez did well for River Plate, the champions in Argentina. He was an another important piece in Pekerman’s jigsaw throughout the qualifying tournament.

         Adrián Ramos shined with Hertha Berlin and was then signed by Borussia Dortmund as the replacement for Munich-bound Robert Lewandowski, a pretty daunting assignment in itself.
Victor Ibarbo, with with Genoa, starred in the international friendlies and erased any doubts about his suitability for international football.

        Luis Fernando Muriel, while not having his best season, has shown before that he could be important to the Colombia squad.

       So there are several options for Colombia in attack. Of course, none is Falcao. In some ways he is irreplaceable. But there are goals from these others, most of whom are also in their prime.