Striker Radamel Falcao has been included in Colombia’s provisional 30-man World Cup squad despite concerns over a knee injury.
The former Atletico Madrid forward sustained anterior cruciate ligament damage in January and has not played since.
The injury had been expected to see Falcao miss the World Cup but the 28-year-old has stressed on a number of occasions that he still hopes to feature in the tournament in Brazil.
Colombia head coach Jose Pekerman has now included the Monaco star in his provisional squad but it remains to be seen if he will be able to prove his fitness and force his way into the final 23-man squad, which must be submitted by the FIFA deadline on June 2.
If Falcao does miss out Colombia will rely on the likes of Sevilla’s Carlos Bacca and Porto’s Jackson Martinez for their goals in Brazil.
The other strikers included in Pekerman’s provisional squad are Adrian Ramos of Hertha Berlin, Udinese’s Luis Fernando Muriel and River Plate star Teofilo Gutierrez.
Provisional Colombia squad:
Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Nice), Faryd Mondragon (Deportivo Cali), Camilo Vargas (Santa Fe)
Defenders: Mario Yepes (Atalanta), Aquivaldo Mosquera (Club America), Cristian Zapata (AC Milan), Carlos Valdes (San Lorenzo), Amaranto Perea (Cruz Azul), Eder Alvarez Balanta (River Plate), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven), Camilo Zuniga (Napoli), Pablo Armero (Napoli)
Midfielders: Carlos Sanchez (Elche), Fredy Guarin (Inter Milan), Abel Aguilar (Toulouse), Aldo Leao Ramirez (Morelia), Juan Fernando Quintero (Porto), Victor Ibarbo (Cagliari), James Rodriguez (Monaco), Macnelly Torres (Al Shabab), Juan Guilermo Cuadrado (Fiorentina), Edwin Valencia (Fluminense), Alexander Mejia (Nacional), Elkin Soto (Mainz)
Forwards: Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla), Adrian Ramos (Hertha Berlin), Luis Fernando Muriel (Udinese), Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate), Jackson Martinez (Porto)
Colombia are priced at 27.00 to win the World Cup outright and 16.00 to be the highest scoring team in Brazil (1st round of 32 teams only).
Link Dafabet