Colombia qualified for the World Cup on Friday thanks to a tremendous comeback against Chile.
Colombia needed only one point to qualify for the FIFA World Cup on Friday and looked primed to pull off the feat after terrific performances at home the last year. Chile needed a win to reach 27 points and avoid having to fight for a top four spot on Tuesday against Ecuador. However, the qualifier looked to become a disastrous mess for the home side, as it got off to the worst possible start imaginable.
Just 18 minutes in Arturo Vidal put Chile on top 1-0. Alexis Sanchez doubled the lead just three minutes later before adding a third in the 28th minute. Throughout this period, Colombia failed to mount any kind of attack and looked completely dumbfounded at home.
The team did start to make a turnaround as the first half came to a close, but everything seemed to favor a Chilean win.
In the second half, Colombia started to play with tremendous aggression and managed to force two yellow cards out of Chile's Carlos Carmona to obtain a man advantage. At the 69th minute, Teofilo Gutierrez scored Colombia's goal to make the score 3-1. Radamel Falcao then got Colombia within one off a 75th minute penalty shot and tied the game less than 10 minutes later off another penalty shot.
Chile has 25 points and must defeat Ecuador to qualify for a top four spot. A loss coupled with a Uruguayan win over Argentina could push Chile to the fifth spot and a playoff with Jordan next month.
Watch the video highlights here.
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