WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : Spotlight : THE SYSTEM: PART I

Colombia assistant coach Hernan Gomez, asked why the team did not make late substitutions during its unexpected 3-1 loss to Romania, defended the coaching staff’s decisions, taking a few mild swipes at his players.

“Our system has a lot of options. We can change, and whether members of the media see that or not is unimportant. I don’t think a substitution would have made much difference. We created seven or eight scoring opportunities against a team that was tactically set up very well for us.

“Our system is sound, it has been in place for too long. It was not a question of players obeying us or not obeying us. They know when they do well and it is our job to tell them what they did wrong. Our problem was some lapses in concentration on an individual level.”