Colombia 0-0 Chile: 3 Talking Points | International Friendlies

Chile and Colombia played out a goalless draw in a friendly fixture at the Estadio José Rico Pérez in Spain.

Colombia came into the fixture without the services of marquee players James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao and in the absence of the pair, head coach Carlos Queiroz deployed the red-hot Duvan Zapata to lead the line and he was ably supported by Luis Muriel and Roger Martinez.

Muriel and Zapata have been impressive so far this season and have scored a combined eight goals this season and it came as no surprise to see them dominate proceedings for most of the match.

In total, Colombia managed 14 shots in the match, with six of those on target, but they were unable to convert their chances to ensure both sides had a share of the spoils.

Here, we shall be highlighting three talking points from the fixture.

#3 Chile's winless run continues

Chile witnessed the golden era of their national team from the start of this decade, culminating in consecutive Copa America wins in 2015 and 2016.

The core of this golden generation of players formed the bulk of the side that finished third at the U-20 World Cup in 2007 and over time, players like Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez, and Gary Medel have seen declines in their performances.

Chile followed up their highs of 2016 with a disappointing sixth-place finish in the qualification series for the World Cup a year later and this meant they did not qualify for Russia 2018.

Things have not exactly gone according to plan for Los Roja and they came into the fixture against Colombia on the back of a winless run in regular time spanning six matches.

The stalemate means they have now gone seven games without a win in regular time and Renaldo Rueda would have been massively disappointed with his team's disjointed play in the game.

Despite possessing the services of world-beaters like Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez, Chile were only able to muster one shot, failing to hit the target for the duration of the game.

They would have another chance to bring their run to an end when they come up against Guinea on the 15th of October.

#2 The game marked by physicality

Over the years, South American football has gained a reputation for its physicality, with the game on the continent focusing more on strength than guile.

It came as no surprise that the game between Chile and Colombia was marked with high intensity and aggressiveness.

Despite being an exhibition game, there was nothing friendly about the applications of the players and the center referee had his hands full in trying to keep control of a game that was marked by flying tackles and crunching fouls.

There were a total of 41 fouls in the game and Chile were responsible for the bulk of those (27) as they resorted to physical measures to thwart Colombia's dominance.

Incredibly, there were just five yellow cards issued in the game (with four going to Chile) although a member of Carlos Queiroz's staff was dismissed for protesting a decision by the referee.

#1 Both sides play out a goalless stalemate for a third consecutive time

Chile needed penalty shootout to dispatch Colombia at the 2019 Copa America

Notwithstanding Colombia's dominating play, there was never a period where it felt like they would force a winner, as Chile's containing tactics ensured that their opponents did not get into top gear.

On the balance of play, a goalless draw is probably a fair result and it mirrors the scorelines in each of the last two meetings between the pair.

The last time the two teams clashed was at the quarterfinal stage of the Copa America and they could not be separated after 90 minutes, with Chile needing penalty a shootout to progress to the last four.

They had also played a goalless draw in the second leg of their 2018 World Cup qualification campaign in November 2016 and given the almost equal standing of both nations on the football hierarchy, it came as no surprise that they could not be separated for the third consecutive time.