Fifa World Cup: Colombia to take on DR Congo with ‘warm hearts and cold heads’
Despite beating Uzbekistan in their first match, coach Nestor Lorenzo says his team had too much ‘emotion’ – the ice has now been broken
In the vast lobby of the Grand Fiesta Americana Guadalajara Country Club on Sunday, Colombia players mixed with family, friends and supporters. A number emerged from various cars clutching smart new shopping bags.
Young relatives of Johan Mojica, the nimble left-back, dashed about in full kits, his surname plastered across the back of their shirts. Wives and girlfriends launched into impromptu songs and dances.
Happy, loud and occasionally chaotic, it was a scene that spoke to the popular off-the-cuff, joyous image of South American football; to an admirably hedonistic outlook on life in sections of that continent.
It notably contrasted, too, with the mood 6.5 kilometres (four miles) south of the Colombians’ base in Guadalajara’s business district, where in an industrial corner of town, on Avenida de las Rosas, the South Korea squad lived in a sterile, heavily guarded hotel.
Fans were huddled behind a railing outside, kept at arm’s length from the players. At least the fridge in reception stocked with the beer of one of the World Cup’s main sponsors sat undisturbed before the team cleared out for Monterrey, the location for their critical meeting with South Africa on Wednesday.
Regardless of the breezy feeling around the Colombian accommodation, Nestor Lorenzo, the erudite head coach, said after they won their opening match 3-1 against Uzbekistan that the fervent support for the team had “emotionally weighed” on his players, resulting in too much risk-averse football.