Copa America preview: Falcao under pressure for Colombia with Zapata on form

There is little doubt who will start up front for Colombia. Radamel Falcao is the iconic figure in the Colombia squad and has been for a number of years. He is their captain and all-time top scorer (31 goals in 77 caps) but, at 33, and after a number of serious knee injuries, is that enough to guarantee his place in the starting XI?

Falcao has scored four goals in his last eight matches for Colombia but his record in major tournaments leaves a lot to be desired. The Monaco striker has only netted three goals in 12 World Cup and Copa America appearances in his international career.

The veteran striker was not fit enough for the last edition of the Copa America in 2016 and Colombia achieved their best finish (third place) since winning the competition in 2001. That’s not to say Colombia are better without Falcao, as he still has a part to play for Carlos Queiroz’s side, but it proves they can cope without their talismanic striker.

Carlos Bacca led the line in Falcao’s absence three years ago and netted two goals, having scored 18 league goals for AC Milan prior to the centenary edition of the tournament. Colombia also have another in-form striker available this summer in the shape of Duvan Zapata and there is an argument he should start their group opener against Argentina.

Zapata played a direct hand in 30 goals in 37 league games for Atalanta last season, as the Serie A outfit secured an unlikely third place finish and Champions League football for 2019/20. It comes as little surprise the 28-year-old is now being heavily linked with a return to Napoli. In fact, Zapata scored more league goals in his first campaign for Atalanta (23) than in 2016/17 and 2017/18 with Sampdoria and Udiense, respectively, combined (22). His goals and assists were remarkably worth an additional 22 points for Atalanta last season.

Given the calibre of strikers available to Colombia down the years, Zapata has been forced to be patient for his opportunities on the international scene. He only made his Los Cafeteros debut two years ago and netted his first goal on his ninth cap in Colombia's final 2019 Copa America preparation match against Peru over the weekend. It’s unlikely Zapata will get the nod against Argentina but there will be calls for him to start if Falcao struggles during the group phase.

Falcao is not the only key member of Colombia’s squad with painful memories of major tournaments of the past. James Rodriguez had to watch Colombia’s 2018 World Cup quarter-final exit to England from the bench after picking up a tournament-ending injury in the round before and will hope to stay injury free at this summer’s Copa America.

There is so much at stake for Rodriguez over the next month. It was in Brazil five years ago where the creative midfielder burst onto the scene. He finished the 2014 World Cup as the top scorer and earned a high profile move to Real Madrid off the back of his performances. Now he returns to Brazil for major tournament football for the first time and will hope to rediscover his best form with his club future far from certain. Rodriguez has returned to Madrid following a two-year loan stint at Bayern Munich but the Spanish giants are open to offers for the 27-year-old.

It wasn’t necessarily that Rodriguez was poor when he played for Bayern; the problem was getting him on the pitch. He started only 32 league games across two league campaigns for the Bundesliga champions and made a further 11 appearances from the bench. In that time he played a direct hand in 27 league goals and averaged a key pass every 24.1 minutes of action – more frequently than any other player in the division (5+ appearances).

If Rodriguez can transfer that sort of chance creation into the Copa America then there should be plenty of goalscoring chances for the likes of Falcao. With Premier League duo Davinson Sanchez and Yerry Mina at the heart of Colombia’s defence and midfield enforcers such as Wilmar Barrios and Jefferson Lerma available for Queiroz, Colombia have a good chance of going deep in the tournament this summer.