Lorenzo: Colombia are in a place they deserve to be after WC qualifying campaign

Nestor Lornenzo believed that his Colombia team were in the place they deserved to be after concluding their World Cup qualifying campaign with a resounding victory. 

Lorenzo watched on as Colombia played out a nine-goal thriller against Venezuela at Estadio Monumental de Maturin, with Luis Suarez scoring four goals for the visitors. 

Colombia twice fell behind early on, with Telasco Segovia's opener in the third minute cancelled out by Yerry Mina, before Josef Martinez quickly restored Venezuela's lead. 

Then four goals without reply from Suarez sealed the win, with Colombia finishing third in the CONMEBOL standings, behind Ecuador and Argentina. 

Colombia and Venezuela played out the joint-highest-scoring match in the history of South American qualifying, tied with three other games that took place at least 60 years ago. 

And Lorenzo's side were worthy of their win, ending the match with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.14 from their 13 shots to Venezuela's 1.21 from their 11 attempts. 

But the Colombia boss, who has now won 23 of his 38 games (D10 L5) since taking the reins in 2022, acknowledged the difficulties of sealing their spot at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. 

"We are in the place we deserve to be," Lorenzo said. "It's been two and a half years where there were undoubtedly some ups and downs."

"Especially in games that escaped us on the hour. However, the team was always the protagonist and went out looking for the games."

Colombia scored 28 goals across their 18 qualifying fixtures, a total only bettered by Argentina (31), but did boast the highest xG (28.76) among the South American nations. 

Four of those came from Suarez on Tuesday, who became the first player to net four times in a South American qualifying match since Uruguay's Luis Suarez did so against Chile back in November 2011. 

They lost four games to Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Brazil, but Lorenzo was quick to laud his team having gone unbeaten in their final four matches of qualifying. 

"We knew how to recover, that's the important thing. Proud of this group, which always brings out the best at the right time," Lorenzo added.

"But the team was the protagonist and always went out looking for the games. And that is what we have to continue to grow, to continue improving."