Colombia All-time 23 member team

Colombia 2014

Before the 1990's, football in Colombia was probably known for their domestic league in the 1950's.  They lured Alfredo di Stéfano, Neil Franklin and Charlie Mitten to play for Colombian clubs. Then, a Golden Generation arrived in the late 1990's and achieved their first success when they finished 3rd at the Copa America in 1987, ironically a year after the 1986 World Cup in which Colombia was going to host.  Then, in 1990, they reached the 2nd round of the WC Finals, but they were eliminated by a Roger Milla goal that was caused by an error from Rene Higuita.  Expectations of the team were high four years later in the US after going undefeated at the Qualifiers and beating Argentina 5-0 in Buenos Aires.  The team, however, was eliminated in the first round. Andrés Escobar was killed shortly after returning home from the Finals.  After a 16 year absence from the World Cup Finals, Colombia returned to the 2014 Finals in style.  They were the most exciting team in Brazil and reached the quarterfinal. James Rodríguez won the Golden Boot.

If there were an All-Time World Cup, this would be the 23 players I would bring to the tournament.

Team
GK: Oscar Cordoba
Oscar Cordoba is the all-time cap leader for Colombian keepers.  He was best remembered for his stints with Boca Juniors between 1997 and 2001.  He won two Copa Libertadores in 2000 and 2001, and was voted as the best keeper for both tournaments. He was also voted the best keeper at Copa America in 2001, where Colombia also won. 

Oscar Cordoba

GK:  René Higuita
Nicknamed El Loco for his style of football.  He was best remembered for playing outside the box as a sweeper for his team and his scorpion kick vs England in 1995.  He played in the 1990 WC Finals, but missed out the 1994 WC Finals because of legal issue.

GK:  Faryd Mondragón

Faryd Mondragón had 21 years career with the national team.  He is the oldest ever player to play in a WC Finals.  He was capped 51 times.  He played for many clubs in both South America and Europe.  His longest stint was with Galatasaray in Turkey.

RB/CB:  Ivan Cordoba
He is one of Colombia's greatest defenders.  He captained Colombia to win the 2001 Copa América competition, scoring the only goal in the final. Córdoba also played for his country in France 1998.  He was best remembered for playing 13 seasons with Inter Milan.
 

Ivan Cordoba

RW/RB: Juan Guillermo Cuadrado
At the time of writing, he is considered one of the best right flank players in the world.  He made his name with Fiorentina in Italy.  He also had an impressive tournament at the 2014 WC Finals in Brazil. 
  
CB: Andrés Escobar
He is best remembered for the ill-fated WC Finals in 1994, where he was killed shortly after returning home from the Finals.  He was capped 51 times for Colombia. He spent most of his career with Atletico Nacional.

CB: Francisco Zuluaga
He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Colombian defenders.  He joined Millonarios in 1948, where he played with Alfred Di Stefano and won 5 Colombian titles.  He played at the 1962 WC Finals in Chile.

CB: Jorge Bermudez 
He was a participant at the 1992 Summer Olympics and went on to play 56 times for the full international squad including appearances at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and in three editions of the Copa América. He was best remembered for playing with Boca Juniors between 1997 and 2001.  He won a Copa Libertadores in 2000

CB: Mario Yepes 
Mario Yepes  played 102 matches for the Colombia and won the Copa America in 2001.He captained Colombia at the WC Finals in 2014.  As for his club career, he played in Colombia, Argentina, France and Italy.  He was known as one of the best defender in France when he played with Paris St.Germain.  

Mario Yepes 

LB: Juan Camilo Zuniga
Juan Camilo Zuniga played at the WC in 2014, but best-remembered for injuring Neymar in the quater-final.  For club football, he is currently with Napoli.

LB: Diego Osorio 

Because of injuries, he was limited to 17 caps.  He played mainly for Atlético Naciona.  He was known for his dribbling skills.

DM:  Leonel Álvarez
He played 101 times for  Colombia  between 1985 and 1995, making him the 3rd most capped player for Colombia. He played in the 1990 and 1994 WC Finals.  In 1989, he was part of the Atlético Nacional team that won the Copa Libertadores.  He also played in Spain, Mexico and the USA.

CM: Marcos Coll
He was best remembered for scoring a goal directly from a corner kick against Soviet Union at the 1962 WC Finals in Chile, beating Lev Yashin.  

AM:  Carlos Valderrama
Nicknamed El Pibe, he was Colombia's greatest ever player.  He was one of the best passers ever from South America.  He was twice South America Player of the Year in 1987 and in 1993. Between 1985 and 1998 he represented Colombia in 111 full internationals and scored 11 times, making him the most capped player in the country's history. 

Carlos Valderrama

AM/RW:  Willington Ortiz
He is considered to be the best players in Colombian history before the emerge of Carlos Valderama.  He was capped 49 times for Colombia. He played with Millonarios, Deportivo Cali and America Cali.  With America Cali, he won 4 straight league titles.  They also lost 3 straight Copa Libertadores between 1985 and 1987.

AM/FW: Humberto Álvarez
He is considered one of the greatest players in Colombia's history.  He  played with Atlético Nacional, Deportivo Cali and Deportivo Independiente Medellín.

AM: Alejandro Brand
Alejandro Brand spent his entire career with Millonarios.  He is their all-time leading scorer with 91 goals.  He formed a great partnership with Willington Ortiz at the club.  He played the WC qualification for 1970, 1974 and 1978.

CM/FW: Freddy Rincon
He was one of the most important player during the Golden Generation of the 1990's.  He played in 1990, 1994 and 1998 WC Finals.  He scored the equalizing goal vs West Germany at Italia 1990, securing Colombia a place in the 2nd round.  He was best remembered for his career in Brazil, where he played for Palmeiras, Corinthians, Santos and Cruzeiro. 

 AM: James Rodríguez
James Rodríguez played in the 2014  World Cup, where he won the Golden Boot as top goalscorer and was part of the All-tournament team.  His European career started with Porto and then, Monaco.  After the WC Finals, Real Madrid brought him to Spain.  He is widely believed to be the 3rd most expensive signing in Real Madrid history. 

James Rodríguez

FW: Faustino Asprilla
He was known for his wild lifestyle outside the game.  He played 57 times for Colombia between 1993 and 2001.  He went to the WC Finals in 1994 ansd 1998. He was known as one of the best attackers in Italy when he played for Parma between 1992 and 1996.  He won a Cup Winners' Cup in 1992.

ST: Delio Gamboa
In his career, he played for Atlético Nacional Millonarios, Independiente Santa Fe, Once Caldas, and Deportes Tolima.  He only appeared for one match at the WC 1962 because of an injury.

ST:  Arnoldo Iguaran
He is the all-time leading goalscorer for the Colombia.  He went to the WC Finals in 1990. He spent 12 years at Millonarios, and won the Colombian league in 1987 and 1988 with the club.

ST:  Radamel Falcao
At the time of writing, he is playing for Manchester United on loan from Monaco.  He also played for Porto and Atletico Madrid, where he won the Europa Cup for each of them.  He was Colombia's best-known player heading to the WC finals in 2014, but he missed the WC Finals through an injury.

Radamel Falcao

Honorable Mention
Luis Carlos Perea, Cristián Zapata, Victor Aristizabal, Juan Pablo Angel, Adolfo Valencia and Efrain Sanchez.

Squad Explanation

• This is my youngest squad in the All-Time WC.  Most of the players played in the 1980's or after. 
•  James Rodríguez won the Golden Boot at the WC Finals in 2014.  No Colombian achieved more than he did even through he is still a new player. 

Starting lineup 
Formation 4-2-1-3