BARRANQUILLA, Colombia (AP) – Radamel Falcao, with a right leg injury, was not included in the Colombian squad on Sunday for the games against Uruguay and Ecuador for the World Cup qualifiers in South America.
While coach Carlos Queiroz will not have Falcao, he will have two key men — James Rodriguez and Juan Guillermo Cuadrado.
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The “Tigre” Falcao did not finish Thursday’s practice with Galatasaray from Turkey and the club’s medical staff announced that it detected moderate tension in the upper right anterior muscle group.
The 34-year-old attacker entered the discounts of the match against local Chile and achieved the goal of a 2-2 draw. Colombia debuted in the playoffs with a 3-0 win over Venezuela.
Queiroz summoned 24 footballers for the meeting with Uruguay in Barranquilla, in the Caribbean, on Friday, and Ecuador in Quito four days later.
Another striker, Jhon Córdoba of Hertha Berlin, suffered a left ankle injury in the game against Augsburg on Saturday and was also not selected.
The attacker Rafael Santos Borré was not cited after River Plate of Argentina isolated him preventively because he was close to a person who later registered positive for COVID-19.
The goalkeeper David Ospina of Napoli of Italy, absent the first two commitments for the qualifying rounds because he was in preventive isolation, will reappear like Matheus Uribe, Luis Díaz, William Tesillo and Edwin Cardona.
The biggest novelty is the forward Luís Suárez from Granada of Spain who arrives at the national team for the first time. Full-backs Daniel Muñoz and Luis Manuel Orejuela relieve Santiago Arias and Stefan Medina, who were injured when the qualifying rounds started.
The concentration opened on Sunday with some soccer players and the majority is expected in Barranquilla on Monday.
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Squad:
Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Napoli, Italy), Camilo Vargas (Atlas, Mexico) and Álvaro Montero (Deportes Tolima).
Defenders: Luis Manuel Orejuela (Gremio, Brazil), Daniel Muñoz, Jhon Lucumí (KRC Genk, Belgium), Yerry Mina (Everton, England), Dávinson Sánchez (Tottenham, England), Jeison Murillo (Celta de Vigo, Spain), William Tesillo (León, Mexico), Frank Fabra (Boca Juniors, Argentina) and Johan Mojica (Atalanta, Italy).
Midfielders: Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Juventus, Italy), Matheus Uribe (Porto, Portugal), Jorman Campuzano, Edwin Cardona (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Wílmar Barrios (Zenit, Russia) and Jéfferson Lerma (Bournemouth, England).
Forwards: James Rodríguez (Everton, England), Alfredo Morelos (Rangers, Scotland), Luis Suárez (Granada, Spain), Duván Zapata, Luis Fernando Muriel (Atalanta, Italy) and Luis Díaz (Porto, Portugal).
