There will be Scottish newspapers and potentially some Colombian ones too asking where to look after Rangers star Alfredo Morelos played no part in the country’s latest mauling.
Short off the back of a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay – a nation with which Colombia really should be going toe-to-toe with – Los Cafeteros suffered a 6-1 humiliation at the hands of Ecuador.
The entire side has come in for criticism for the nation’s performances so far in the South American World Cup Qualifiers, where Colombia now sit 7th after four games.
There will be plenty of opportunities to turn things around for Carlos Queiroz and his side with Rangers striker Morelos largely watching on from the bench as his country toils on the pitch.
The powerful forward, 24, has also too conveniently been a whipping boy in the nation’s own press but his lack of involvement in this harrowing defeat shows that the problems are much deeper rooted.
Morelos has previously had to come out and defend his situation at Rangers after criticism in his home country for playing in Scotland.
“I am happy to be called up for the national team again. With regards to my future at Rangers, I will decide this in the next few days, but for now, I am thinking only about Colombia,” said Morelos [Scottish Sun].
“To these people who are criticising me, my statistics tell its own story.
“These critics don’t watch Scottish football. If they did they would know I am playing well in a good league.”
After the match with Uruguay – in which Morelos played the last half an hour with Colombia already 2-0 down – the knives once again came out.
Similarly to the press in his home country, Morelos is regularly lambasted in the Scottish press for his performances for his country.
Rangers fans famously leapt to the striker’s defence over coverage in Scottish nationals for his performances with Colombia which were in stark contrast to coverage of Celtic’s Odsonne Edouard, the Frenchman only turning out for the country’s U21 team.
That’s not to say that Morelos doesn’t deserve some of the criticism that’s coming his way for Colombia.
The striker has often cut a dejected figure of late with the nation and almost certainly needs to do more to win over a country toiling for direction.
But the suggestion the responsibility falls solely on the shoulders of a young striker – who has never started a competitive game for his country – is a fanciful one at best.
As always, Rangers fans are going to leap to the defence of their star striker but not just because he’s one of our own, but also because we know what he can do.
Whilst judgment on his Colombia performances are best left to followers of the nation he calls home, Morelos isn’t the problem with Colombia.
This is a Colombia team strewn with world-beating talent from across Europe’s five leagues with Morelos potentially the solution to an ageing squad rather than the whipping boy for its deficiencies.
Change is coming for Colombia – and Morelos can still be a big part of it.
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