Things didn’t start well for Colombia in the international break. In their first game on Friday night, they were defeated 3-0 at home by Uruguay.
The Cafeteros had been counting on two Everton stars for this match, Yerry Mina and James Rodriguez, and neither of them did well. They’re now getting the heaviest criticism from the local media.
Marca Claro brought several stories in the past couple of days, with one of them titled ‘James and Mina have it difficult with Yepes’ and Falcao’s shadow’.
They write: ‘And of the entire current generation, two figures stand out who must assume that role because of their cache in international football: James and Mina. The two failed yesterday with their mistakes.’
Mina is Marca’s main target, as on top of his poor performance, he was sent off at the end of the game. And it turns out that besides the obvious criticism towards the defender, columnist Carlos Gonzalez blames Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti as well.
The journalist says that by leaving the player on the bench for the match against Manchester United, he hurt Mina’s confidence for the upcoming weeks.
“However, I believe that Yerry’s performance against Uruguay is no coincidence and there’s another culprit. Yes, for me Carlo Ancelotti’s decision to point him out against Manchester United was wrong. The Italian coach left him on the bench for no apparent physical reason and we all know the Colombian defender, who tends to collapse mentally when he doesn’t feel the coach’s support.
“Logically, the person most responsible for his mistakes is Mina himself, who was not up to the task, but Ancelotti, far from helping him regain confidence, I think that with that substitution he’s generated many doubts, returning to situations of the past that were a weight for the Colombian.”
Colombia are now back in action on Tuesday night, as they travel to Ecuador for a World Cup qualifier. They are currently in 7th place, with four points from three games, and must improve quickly to get in the top five.
