Spain vs Colombia
International Friendly Match
Date: Wednesday, 7th July 2017
Kick off at 20:30 UK/ 21:30 CET
Venue: Neuva Condomia, Murcia, Spain.
Dethroned European champions Spain haven’t wasted any time in getting back to form after their exit from Euro 2016. They lost 2-0 to Italy to send them crashing out in the first knockout rounds, resulting in the resignation of Vicente del Bosque and subsequent appointment of Julen Lopetegui.
The new boss started his reign with a 2-0 win in Belgium shortly after Euro 2016, and with their most recent result being a 2-0 win away to France to make it six wins and two draws from his eight games in charge.
Admittedly, some of these matches have been against somewhat weak opposition, but they have avoided defeat away to both Italy and Spain in this period and their 2-0 win away to France shows that they’re back to their best.
Colombia’s most recent outing saw them beat Ecuador 2-0 away from home to leave them 2nd in the South American World Cup qualifiers. They are some nine points behind leaders Brazil and only have a four point cushion before dropping out of the qualification spots, so things are tight in South America at the moment.
That win in Ecuador made it three wins, two draws, and three defeats in their last eight matches, and even away from home they’re not doing badly. They have won three, drawn one, and lost three of their last seven on the road, scoring in five of them but only managing two clean sheets as well.
Getting a result against Spain could be somewhat difficult though. The hosts have won ten of their last 11 matches on Spanish soil. They have conceded in five of their last seven though, with their only clean sheets coming against Liechtenstein and Macedonia.
Obviously Colombia, with Radawel Falcao and James Rodriguez in the squad, provide much more of a goal-scoring threat than Liechtenstein and Macedonia, so I expect them to find a goal on Wednesday. Keeping a clean sheet against Spain’s attack seems very unlikely though, so I’m backing Both Teams to Score at 1/1 along with a 3-1 win for Spain at 12/1.
Spain vs Colombia: Head to Head Stats
There has only been two ‘A’ team fixtures between the two nations. The first match was in 1981 in Colombia which ended 1-1. The most recent fixture came in 2011 where Spain edged the match 1-0. There is a 100% success rate for under 2.5 goals.
Spain vs Colombia: Prediction
With their form it’s very difficult not to see a home victory here and we also expect to see goals. Some Spanish players will be tired after a grueling season but they have a coach that is working wonders with the players. We can put all of out belief in this Spanish squad.
