Columbia manages to outscore Greece 3 - 0 Saturday in the opening game of Group C despite being the underdog team in South America, redeeming itself since its last entry in the World Cup 16 years ago.
Armero quickly scores 5 minutes into the game, as Greece goalkeeper Karnezis fails to thwart a shot past him. Gutierrez adds another point for the team during the 58th-minute mark with a deflected corner kick. Rodriguez further secures victory for the South Americans after a goal just right on the 93rd-minute mark.
Colombia Coach José Pékerman tells The New York Times: "It was a good debut with players who had never played a World Cup." He further adds: "This is how we planned this match. Some things turned out the way we wanted, some things didn't, but we were very focused and showed that we're here to play a good World Cup."
"The crucial thing was that everyone did the job they were tasked with and that allowed us to play calmly. This result is very important for us and sets us up well for the rest of the group stage," Pékerman notes in BBC News.
Greece had a high possession rate (about 54%), as well as various chances to tie up the game but the attempts of Torosidis and Kone revealed to be futile.
BleacherReport describes Colombia's performance as "professional throughout," with goalkeeper Ospina having blocked some of the Greek's close-call encounters.
Even with the absence of star player Falcao due to a knee injury, Colombia manages to outscore the Greeks, giving great confidence to the team. A highly-supportive pro-Columbian audience further motivated the team as they dominated Estadio Mineirao.
Greek coach Fernando Santos reacts on a report at BBC, saying: "They caused us a lot of problems from the opening minutes. We did get back into the game, though, and the end result was a little bit unfair.
