FIFA 2014 Round of 16 Predictions: Match #50 Colombia vs. Uruguay

Final Score

Colombia 2 Uruguay 0

Overview

Match number 50 is the second match of the knock-out stages. Colombia won all its matches in the group stages and finished first in Group C. Uruguay, on the other hand, had its ups and downs before qualifying to the "Round of 16" as the second team from the
"group of death" Group D.

Teams

Colombia: 5 out of 6 South American teams which took part in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualified for the "Group of 16." Colombia, however, may be the best-performing South American team so far. It started its campaign against Greece which looked helpless in front of the Colombian attack. Colombia showed its ability to score as it won the match 3-0. It was Ivory Coast it had to face in its second match. Colombia was convincing once again and won the match against the African team 2-1. Japan had to beat Colombia in its third match in the group stages to qualify for the next round. Colombia, which already qualified only after two matches, might have been considered to be more relaxed in its approach. However, Colombia had other plans. It won 4-1 against Japan and stormed in to the "Group of 16." James Rodríguez already scored 3 goals in 3 matches as Colombia scored 9 goals and conceded only 2. Colombia continues to be impressive one match after another.

Uruguay: There were high expectations when Uruguay came to the tournament. Even though it was in the "group of death" with teams like Italy and England, it was still favoured by critics to go to the next round. However, the way it started the world cup was absolutely shocking. It lost to Costa Rica 1-3. Its world cup dreams suddenly looked uncertain. However, it managed to recover at the right time. It won against England 2-1, thanks to Luis Suárez's two fabulous goals. It still needed to win against Italy to qualify for the next round. Things looked pretty tight but Uruguay eventually managed to win the match 1-0 with Diego Godín's header. However, one more incident took place in that match. Suárez, who had suffered a 10-match ban for biting Branislav Ivanovic earlier, was accused of biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini. If Suárez is proved to be guilty, he is likely to suffer ban again. This will probably damage Uruguay's performance in this match immensely.

Update: Suárez has been banned for 4 months due to the biting incident

Head to Head

These two teams played 38 times against each other before. Colombia won 11, Uruguay 18, and the other 9 matches ended in a draw. A total number of 97 goals were scored. Colombia scored 43, Uruguay 54.

Key Players

Colombia: James Rodríguez and Jackson Martínez

Uruguay: Edinson Cavani

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 5 pm (local time) on June 28, which means it is 6 am on June 29 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro.

Prediction

Colombia will continue to score multiple goals in this match as well. Uruguay will miss the sting. Colombia will win it 3-1.

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au