Falcao's harsh criticism of Colombian football: "It cannot continue encouraging laziness and mediocrity"

"We got excited, we started to see the path as beautiful and it was not enough to make it, staying there is going to be very hard", a dejected Jefferson Lerma said after Colombia's defeat, which is out of the World Cup after being eliminated on penalties against Switzerland. The team coached by Néstor Lorenzo bowed out in the round of 16. And, after the disappointment, Radamel Falcao, an authoritative voice in the country on football matters and a legend of the national team, also lamented the team's farewell to the World Cup, but went further and tried to find the root of the problem, which he identified in the structure of Colombian football.

'"It's a shame about the chances we had, we didn't know how to capitalize on them. At this stage, in a competition like this, the opponent has the level not to forgive you and it has been from 11 meters, as on so many other occasions, that our football's wings have been clipped in penalty shootouts. It is something that we definitely have to work on in our football, in our teams, in our clubs, in the national team. I'm not saying it as criticism, but we do have to be sensible, we have to pay a lot of attention because there have been many disappointments”, he said on ESPN, the network on which he was commenting on Colombia's national team matches at the World Cup.'

It can't be that we don't have a Category C, it's a disgrace that our football lacks competitiveness and encourages mediocrity and laziness

Falcao

After analyzing the match, his analysis focused on something much deeper and he went on to criticize the foundations on which Colombian football is built, which only has two divisions. “Our training has to improve, as do the emphasis, care, attention, tools, and infrastructure that must be provided to our young players, to the youth ranks,” Radamel said.

Teams that don't invest because they know they won't be relegated, that have First Division budgets and pay the players next to nothing

Falcao

"The same goes for the divisions of Colombian football; it cannot be that we do not have a Category C. It is a disgrace that our football lacks competitiveness and encourages mediocrity and laziness, teams that do not invest because they know they are not going to be relegated to a Category C division, that have First Division budgets and pay the players a pittance and that the only thing it generates is mediocrity in an institution and in the footballers themselves, who know that nothing is going to happen if they finish last," Falcao continued on ESPN.

The players themselves know that nothing is going to happen if they finish last

Falcao

'"Our football deserves something more. This board has improved the Colombia national team, it has given it the means, it has set up bases in Bogotá, in Barranquilla, it is giving everything to the national team and these players are putting in their effort, developing in Colombia and elsewhere, trying to give us their best, thanks to them for what they have done, but our football cannot continue promoting laziness and mediocrity and perhaps we are the only ones in the world who do not have a third or fourth division and we lose players at the age of 20 because they have nowhere to play", he concluded.'

Perhaps we are the only ones in the world who do not have a third or fourth division

Falcao

The ability to overcome

Meanwhile, John Arias, who started against Switzerland, was another of those lamenting the elimination, although he preferred to look toward the future. "I hope today is the beginning of a total change to make it all the way to the final day", he said.

I hope that today is a fresh start that will carry us all the way to the final day; it's high time we stopped always falling short at the gates

John Arias

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