Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Colombia managed to silence any of their naysayers after completely dominating Greece. Many critics of the Colombians said that there would be issues without star striker Radamel Falcao.
There was no doubt from the beginning of the match that Colombia was in control. An early goal by Pablo Armero gave Colombia an early lead that was held for the entire match.
The strike in the 5th minute deflected off the Greek defense and found the back of the net. Armero's strike truly set the tone for the first half.
Despite several first half chances, Greece were unable to find an equalizer. The best opportunity of the first half for Greece came from a strike from 26 year old Panagiotis Kone.
Kone sent a great curling strike, but was unable to find the net thanks to a fantastic save by David Ospina.
After the halftime break, Colombia came out just as strongly as they did in the first half. Their second goal came in the 58th minute.
Greece's streak of struggling to defend set pieces was extended with a great corner by the Colombians. Teófilo Gutiérrez, who is one of Falcao's replacements in the squad, had a fantastic finish to extend the Colombian lead to 2-0.
However, Greece did not give up their push toward goal. They were almost able to pull back one goal on an open goal opportunity after a slip by Colombia's Ospina.
Sadly for the Greeks, the ball that found the head of Theofanis Gekas hit the woodwork. This miss put heavy pressure on Greece as time wound down.
Greece were unable to find any fortune, unlike Colombia, who were still not finished. In the closing moments of the match, Colombia furthered there lead to 3-0.
With one minute gone in stoppage time, the Greek keeper was beaten again, this time by Colombia's James Rodriguez.
Even without Falcao, today's performance by by Colombia affirmed FIFA's high regard for the South American side. FIFA's ranking of Colombia as 8th in the world was truly supported by their result.
Colombia' next match is against the Ivory Coast on June 19, while Greece will play Japan on the same day.
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