Colombia announce 29-man provisional squad for the FIFA World Cup 2014; Falcao named in the list

Colombia national team

Colombia are the latest South-American nation to reveal their 29-man provisional squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2014 tournament in Brazil.

Coach Jose Pekerman has announced his list of players that have a chance of representing the nation at the summer event.

The biggest news for any Colombian fan is the inclusion of Radamel Falcao, who has been out of action for a long time with a knee injury. He recovers in time to spearhead the Colombian attack along with FC Porto target man Jackson Martinez. The forward line also comprises of the highly rated Luis Muriel of Udinese and Carlos Bacca of Sevilla.

Meanwhile, Christian Zapata of AC Milan and veteran defender Mario Yepes of Atlanta have been called up by Pekerman to line up at the heart of the Colombian defence. West Ham United’s pacy left back Armero has also been included in the squad.

Freddy Guarin has been picked in midfield while the highly rated James Rodriguez will feature in attacking midfield. Out of the 29, 15 players have been selected from European leagues.

Colombia have been placed in group C with Ivory Coast, Greece and Japan. Falcao and co kick off their campaign against Greece on June 14.

Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Nice), Faryd Mondragón (Deportivo Cali), Camilo Vargas (Santa Fe).

Defenders: Mario Yepes (Atalanta), Aquivaldo Mosquera (América de México), Cristian Zapata (Milan), Carlos Valdes (San Lorenzo), Amaranto Perea (Cruz Azul), Eder Álvarez Balanta (River Plate), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven), Camilo Zúñiga (Napoli), Pablo Armero (West Ham).

Midfielders: Carlos Sánchez (Elche), Fredy Guarín (Inter), Abel Aguilar (Toulouse), Aldo Leao Ramirez (Morelia), Juan Fernando Quintero (Porto), Víctor Ibarbo (Cagliari), Edwin Valencia (Fluminense), Alexander Mejía (Nacional), James Rodríguez (Monaco), Macnelly Torres (Al Shabab) Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Fiorentina).

Forwards: Luis Fernando Muriel (Udinese), Teófilo Gutiérrez (River Plate), Falcao García (Monaco), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla), Adrián Ramos (Hertha Berlín), Jackson Martínez (Porto).

Colombia announces 30-man preliminary World Cup squad. Radamel Falcao has been included despite an injury – pic.twitter.com/zBoXph2Na0

— World Cup 2014 (@WorldCupPosts) May 13, 2014

.@FALCAO has been included in Colombia’s (@FCFSeleccionCol) provisional #WorldCup squad – http://t.co/Ovm1iwZd8e pic.twitter.com/7FyUv0xYfj

— FIFAWorldCup (@FIFAWorldCup) May 13, 2014