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15 unusual facts about Colombia national football team


Adolph Bachmeier

However, he returned to the lineup in 1961 for the only U.S. game that year, a loss to Colombia.

Antonio Ríos

Ríos got his first call up by interim coach Efraín Flores for friendly matches on September 4 and 7, 2010 against Ecuador and Colombia, respectively.

Brent Goulet

In 1988, despite playing for the national team at the Olympics, he only played one international match, a May 14 loss to Colombia.

Carlos Alberto Restrepo Isaza

After some time spent managing in minor leagues and regional teams in his home country, he took over several U-17 and U-20 Colombia national football teams.

Elkin Soto

He is also a starter of the Colombian national team where he plays left wing midfielder.

Unfortunately for the Colombian national team this is an issue which had him banned from the national side until the issue got solved.

Fabio Baldas

He is mostly known for supervising one match in the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA, the first-round Group A contest between the United States and Colombia.

George Pastor

Pastor’s last game with the national team was as a substitute for Paul Caligiuri on June 24, 1989, a 1-0 loss to Colombia.

Hayden Knight

The three games all came within a week as Knight played first on October 11 in a win over Colombia, followed by a loss three days later to Guatemala and another loss three days after that to Mexico.

Helmut Michel

He also earned one cap with the U.S. national team in a 2-0 loss to Colombia

Martín Palermo

He is in the Guinness Book of World Records for missing three penalties for Argentina in a single international match against Colombia in the Copa América 1999.

Olaf Thon

Subsequently, he was selected for the squads at three FIFA World Cups, helping the nation win the tournament in the 1990 edition in Italy: after only six minutes against Colombia in the group stage (1–1), he played the entire semifinal against England, also scoring in his penalty shootout attempt (1–1 after 120 minutes).

Rafael Cuevas

He is known to teammates and fans as "Higuita", due to his resemblance to Colombian goalkeeper René Higuita.

Rolando Serrano

Serrano helped the Colombia national football team qualify for the 1962 FIFA World Cup finals, the team's first, but missed a penalty attempt against Peru in the qualifying round.

Tomasz Kuszczak

However, in a World Cup warm-up match between Poland and Colombia on 30 May 2006, he conceded a goal directly from a long punt by the opposition goalkeeper, Neco Martínez.


1995 U.S. Cup

The four teams included the host United States, along with Mexico, Colombia and Nigeria.

1998 in England

26 June - England qualify for the next stage of the World Cup by beating Colombia 2-0 in Lens, with David Beckham scoring the first with a trademark 30 yard free kick, with Darren Anderton the 2nd.

Alexander Escobar Gañán

Escobar is highly regarded in América de Cali and LDU de Quito, as well as in the Colombia national team.

Alexander Viveros

Viveros gained 34 caps for Colombia during six years (two goals), being selected for the squad that appeared at the 1999 Copa América in Paraguay, and being a starter in an eventual quarterfinal exit.

Avimiled Rivas

Avimiled Rivas Quintero (born 17 October 1984 in Cali) is a Colombian football player who has played for Millonarios, Deportes Quindío, Atlético Nacional, CP Ejido, SD Eibar and Once Caldas, as well as the Colombian national team.

Baltazar Maria de Morais Júnior

Baltazar played for the Brazilian national team at the 1989 Copa América which was held on home soil, appearing in three group stage matches for the eventual winners (including the 0–0 against Colombia as a starter).

Carlos Hoyos

Carlos Mario Hoyos Jaramillo (born February 28, 1962 in Medellín) is a retired football defender who was capped 24 times for Colombia between 1985 and 1990.

Celso Otero

Celso Otero Quintás (born February 1, 1959 in Montevideo) is a retired football goalkeeper from Uruguay, who obtained one official cap for the Uruguay national football team: on August 7, 1988 in a friendly against Colombia (1-2) in Bogotá.

Henry Zambrano

Henry Zambrano Sandoval (born August 7, 1973 in Soledad, Colombia) is a soccer player who played for Colombian national team.

Henryk Kasperczak

During the tournament, Kasperczak was fired and replaced by Ali Selmi, after Tunisia lost the chance to pass the group stage, losing to England (0–2) and Colombia (0–1).

History of FIFA

Under this proposal, Bolivia would no longer be able to play international matches in La Paz (3600 m), Ecuador would be unable to play in Quito (2800 m), and Colombia could no longer play in Bogotá (2640 m).

Ivan Katalinić

Debut came on 30 January 1977 when Yugoslavia beat Colombia 1–0 at Estadio El Campín in Bogotá and his last game was in Rome on 18 May 1978 versus Italy at stadio Olimpico in a

Jorge Horacio Serna

Jorge Horacio Serna Castañeda (b. October 27, 1979 in Medellín) is football forward who played for the Colombia national football team between 1999 and 2002.

Lev Yashin

In the game against Colombia, which the Soviet Union was leading 4–1, Yashin let in a few soft goals, including a goal scored by Marcos Coll directly from a corner kick (the first and the only goal scored directly from a corner in FIFA World Cup history).

Stephen McPhail

In May 2008, new manager Giovanni Trapattoni selected McPhail for his first squad for the friendly games against Serbia and Colombia.

Víctor Aristizábal

Víctor Hugo Aristizábal Posada (born December 9, 1971 in Medellín, Antioquia) is a Colombian retired football striker who scored 15 goals in 66 games for the Colombia national team between 1993 and 2003.

Wes Hoolahan

In April 2008, Giovanni Trapattoni included Hoolahan in his preliminary forty-man squad for the friendly matches against Serbia on 24 May and Colombia on 29 May.