Colombia’s hopes for qualifying for the 2018 World Cup just received an extra boost with not only their 2-0 victory over Ecuador, but also with Argentina’s 2-0 defeat by Paraguay as well as Peru upsetting Uruguay with a 2-1 victory.

James Rodriguez scored the first goal and assisted on another one during the Tuesday night game in Quito.  Playing in Estadio Olimpico Atahalupa is usually difficult because of the high altitude of the stadium.  Not to mention also that Ecuador has been dominant in five of their last seven games at home.

After Rodruguez’ goal, the Ecuadorian defense broke down with James making a risky cross pass to teammate Juan Cuadrado just 14 minutes after the first goal. It did not get better when Luis Caicedo was given a second yellow card and sent off. 

Pekerman’s team has climbed to second in the Conmebol standings, while Argentina who is dealing with the Lionel Messi four-game suspension is on the outside looking in with only four more games to play.

Colombia has not lived up to many of the fans expectations since the 2014 World Cup. Peckerman has been switching players frequently because of the lack of options he has available.

 Things are looking better lately with the return of Abel Aguilar. Has Colombia turned the page in to a positive direction? Their next matches will be against Venezuela on August 31^st and versus Brazil on September 5^th.  All we can do is hope.