Football
Colombia won their two friendlies against El Salvador and Canada in the United States. A comfortable 3-0 win over El Salvador was marked by Falcao’s first goal for the national team after his return from the injury that kept him out of the World Cup. The difference in the narrow 1-0 victory over Canada was made by James Rodriguez with a brilliant goal from outside the box. Manager Pekerman – whose mother sadly passed away between the two games – used the matches to try out some of the young and upcoming players. Camilo Vargas, Pedro Franco, Jeison Murillo, Jimmi Chara and Edwin Cardona, the talented Atletico Nacional creative midfielder, played their first minutes for ‘el tricolor’.
Cycling
Alejandro Valverde has won the UCI 2014 world tour ranking. Nairo Quintana’s Movistar teammate claimed the win with 686 points – a 66 point lead over Vuelta a Espana winner Alberto Contador. Quintana finished sixth with 346 points. Colombia came seventh in the ranking by nation, behind winner Spain. In the Tour of Beijing, the final World Tour event of the year, Esteban Chaves from team Orica Greenedge finished in a respectable third place behind Belgian Phillipe Gibert and Dan Martin from Ireland. The cyclist from Bogota finished on the podium after fighting all week for one of the top spots. Next season the cycling calendar will kick off with the Tour Down Under starting on January 17th.
Volleyball
The United States women’s volleyball team have clinched their first World Championship title in the 2014 tournament in Italy. The North Americans beat China 3-1 in the final with set scores 27-25, 25-20, 16-25, 26-24.
