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Colombia did great against Greece, Drogba the main asset for the Ivory Coast

Even though they were without three of their first-team players, Colombia beat Greece at the start and showed a very nice and versatile game, while the Ivory Coast got away by the skin of their teeth against Japan, but until Drogba came in, it was as if they weren't even in the match

Colombia and Ivory Coast are going into the 2nd round with 3 points each, which means that whoever wins this game, if anyone wins at all, will secure the Round of 16 and the team that loses will put themselves in a very dangerous situation. This depends on the result between Greece and Japan, the two teams that were defeated in the first round.

Colombia got one of the most convincing wins in the WC so far as they beat Greece by 3-0 and they had one of the best supports from the stands, which will definitely be the case in the rest of the tournament. Everything worked for them as planned as an early goal from Armero quickly forced the Greeks into 'open combat' and they didn't have a chance in that against the more gifted and faster Colombians who showed that their results from the qualifications were no accident. 

If you take into consideration the fact that Jose Pekerman left two of his best strikers, Bacca (injury) and Martinez (subbed in in the 75th minute), on the bench, you see that this Colombian generation is eve stronger. Brimming with confidence, they will try to impose their rhythm and look for three points to get into the Round of 16.

- It was a great debut and besides a convincing win, we got a huge load off our back as this is a World Cup debut for all my players. I'm sure the experience from the game against Greece will be very valuable for the games to come - said Pekerman who will once again be without Bacca due to injury, but Guarin is back in the squad and will probably start

- Ivory Coast are a different team than Greece and they are able to impose they game style, which makes our job harder. Ivory Coast have several good forwards that we need to pay attention to and we need to maintain the concentration for the entire 90 minutes - said Pekerman, adding that Colombia will not even think about closed tactics. His team displayed a very versatile game against Greece, as reflected in three different scorers, but their penetration across the flanks was very much noticeable.

Ivory Coast were nowhere to be seen against Japan and then they scored two identical goals within 2 minutes in the second half (crosses from the right and shots from some 10 meters away), which put Japan in such a state of shock that they were unable to fight back until the end.

Even though Bony and Gervinho scored, the real initiator of their comeback was Didier Drogba. When he stepped out onto the pitch in the 62nd minute, it was as if a magic spell was cast to turn this slow and inventive team into a team of flawless attackers. Many doubts were raised about whether Drogba should have started the match and Ivory Coast were aware they got a lucky break against Japan, and coach Sabri Lamouchi defended his decision by saying that Drogba came to preparations with an injury and that he needed some time to adapt.

The player, on the other hand, said that he was disappointed for not starting and that he's expecting to start against Japan. Nothing new for the African teams who fall apart very quickly, and it's enough to look at the spectacular fight of Cameroonian player Assou Ekotto and Moukandjo during the game against Croatia and you get a general impression.

Ivory Coast are lucky they were able to beat Japan and a point against Colombia now would be a solid accomplishment ahead of the game against Greece. That's why Lamouchi will be able to use a more defensive formation, leave the central midfield to powerful runners and patiently wait for a flash of brilliance from his forwards. 

- We have to respect the fact that we are playing against an offensively powerful opponents, which will determine our tactics - confirmed Lamouchi, but he refused to answer any speculation about Drogba.

- Drogba played his role in the first game perfectly, and we will decide whether he plays ahead of the game when we analyze all the aspects of our situation and tactics - said the Ivorian coach, although it's clear that his team is not the same with or without Droba.

The question is whether the veteran player is able to withstand the rhythm throughout the entire 90 minutes and many will agree with Lamouchi for using him like a super sub, which worked against Japan but might prove to be a different case against Colombia. The Colombians are better organized and every game is a new chance to prove their worth, especially at the World Cup where there is no compromise. 

- We are facing a difficult game in which it will be important to win the midfield duels and not allow the Colombians get too much space for maneuvers, as they will not allow that to us as well. We have the weaponry to outplay them, but we have to be wary of their fast transformation and not make any technical mistakes like against Japan - said Lamouchi who will not forward Ya Konan due to knee injury.

The game in Brasilia will be handled by Howard Webb, the man who was the referee in the final of the last World Cup. Numbers are irrelevant when it comes to referees like him, he belongs to the type that gets the feeling the game and the attitude of the opponents and adjusts his criteria accordingly. 

These two teams have not met before, but Jose Pekerman beat Ivory Coast in German in 2006 as Argentina's coach by 2-1 and the man who scored for the Ivory Coast was none other than Didier Drogba. 

This margin is completely wrong, and I don't know what they based it on. Let's count some of the last Colombia's matches I found data and the number of fouls for: Greece (20), Chile (25), Jordan (14), Tunis (17), Netherlands (21), Belgium (16), Paraguay (8), Uruguay (18), Ecuador (21), Serbia (21), Peru (18), Argentina (20). So, the last 12 matches I found, they went over the margin 11 times. Half of those teams were weaker than Ivory Coast, and half were friendly matches. I repeat, they had 20 fouls against Greece. I had the same bet on Ivory Coast in the first round, and they had 13 fouls against Japan. The Japanese are much humbler, and even then, it could have been 20 fouls if the referee didn't let advantage about ten times (rightfully so, but it's silly to expect that again). Even though the media didn't announce him from the start, I think Drogba could be in the team today. He brought life against Japan, and participated in the turnover a lot, and today, his strength could be valued in gold. Referee Webb shouldn't be a big factor here. He could try to prevent the nervousness by calling preventative fouls. Perhaps he'll allow a game to be a big tougher, but he's too experienced to get himself into problems by allowing too much roughness.