Spain and Colombia are set to play a friendly match at the Estadio Nueva Condomina in Murcia, Spain. The Spaniards will use the match to consolidate the team ahead of the World Cup qualifier against FYR Macedonia on June 11 and emerge as toppers in Group G.
Spain have not been at their best lately dropping to 10th spot in the world rankings while Colombia climbed to the fifth spot making the match all the more interesting.
Also read: James Rodriguez set to leave Real Madrid after being snubbed from Champions League final
Spain's manager Julen Lopetegui will be eager to score a win as he looks to make Spain a dominant force once again.However, the match against Colombia will not be an easy one as Jose Pekerman is widely regarded as a master tactician.
Lopetegui will be without a number of key players against Colombia particularly the Real Madrid Players who played the Champions League finals. The likes of Sergio Ramos, Dani Carvajal, and Isco will miss out and the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Nacho Monreal could figure in the line-up.
The Arsenal defender said he wanted his teammates to focus on this match despite it being a friendly.
"Colombia have gone from less to more. They have been competing very well for a long time already. I will face my Arsenal team-mate Ospina, and hopefully we can play well. It's a very important game. We are fighting with Italy and we cannot afford to fail," ESPN quoted Monreal as saying.
"We are aware that we are favorites, but if we are not focused, if we are thinking about our holidays, we will have difficulties."
Colombia, meanwhile, will field a strong squad with James Rodriguez expected to start after getting benched in the Champions League finals. Despite Spain being tipped as the favourites, they need to be wary of this Colombian team.
They have two of the most promising centre-backs in Davinson Sanchez and Yerry Mina and also Radamel Falcao, who seems to have got back to his best since he returned to Monaco.
Meanwhile, Colombia's coach Pekerman spoke about Rodriguez in his pre-match press conference : "He is headstrong and works towards that. From our side, we always ask him to battle in order to find his place and to impose his abilities despite the difficulties. And he tries," Pekerman said.
"I always perceived that the biggest players have this rebel character of wanting to play. They don't like to be on the outside. There is always a cost. We all want to have a good player, but when we have it, sometimes we ask him to do something that is not what he can do."
Where to watch
The international friendly between Spain and Colombia is set to start at 9:30pm local time, 1:00am IST and 8:30pm BST.
TV and live streaming information
India and UK: No coverage.
Spain: TV: TeleCinco Espana
Colombia: TV: Caracol TV
Africa: TV: SuperSport 5. Live streaming: SuperSport live
UAE: TV: Abu Dhabi Sports 4 HD
