What a great end to this international break for our internationals! Carlos Cuesta and Daniel Muñoz played their part in a major success for Colombia. The Tricolor beat rivals Chile 3-1 in a crucial game to bolster their chances of qualifying for the World Cup.
The absence of Yerry Mina and Dávinson Sánchez left a space at centre back. National coach Reinaldo Rueda did not hesitate and selected Carlos Cuesta. Our stalwart defender reward the manager's faith in him and had a great game as debutant. Carlos successfully completed 46 of 51 passes. The Colombian media were full of praise for his performance in his first full international match. In Colombia, Cuesta, who captained the U20s at the 2019 World Cup, has been considered a major defensive talent for years.
The home country led 2-0 early on, while Chile scored early in the second half. Time to take Daniel Muñoz off the bench, the national coach thought. The second Genk player for Colombia came on after an hour and saw his side score a third time to secure the win. For Muñoz, meanwhile, it was his eighth international cap.
2001 was the last time Colombia had managed to beat Chile in a qualifying match. Colombia is now in fifth place in the table with 13 points from 9 matches, the same number as Ecuador in fourth.
Both Genkies will return to Europe today on a private plane, in the company of several other Colombian and Chilean internationals. Tomorrow they will be back on the training pitch in Genk to complete their preparation for Sunday's match against Union.