WORLD CUP USA ’94 / THE FIRST ROUND : The Real Colombia Arrives Too Late : Group A: Early favorite posts a solid 2-0 victory over Switzerland, but its time is up.

The Colombia team that many experts, including Pele, considered the world’s best finally made an appearance Sunday, showing not only its fans but all fans of positive soccer what might have been if only Valderrama, Asprilla, Rincon and friends had unleashed their potential in the first or second games instead of waiting until the last.

After disappointing losses to Romania and the United States, the Group A favorites went into their fast-forward mode before 83,769 at Stanford Stadium for a 2-0 victory over Switzerland. The Swiss argued about the legitimacy of the goals but not the result. They had been clocked and knew it.

“Colombia proved that it was rightfully labeled as one of the favorites, or at least as one of the outsiders to win the tournament,” Switzerland Coach Roy Hodgson said. “I don’t feel terribly disappointed to lose to a team like that.”

He, of course, could afford to be gracious because the Swiss will live for another day, finishing second in their group to advance to the second round Saturday in Washington against either Spain or Bolivia.

As for the Colombians, who are going home as the group’s fourth-place team, the president of the country, Cesar Gaviria, said it all.

“The Colombian people are going to be sad that we didn’t progress in the tournament,” he said. “But we have to be satisfied that the Colombian players finally demonstrated the football they have inside.”

They might have had a short stay in the United States, but it must have seemed to them like it would never end. After feeling as if they had let down their entire country in the opening loss to Romania, defender Luis Herrera’s brother was killed in an automobile accident in Bogota and midfielder Gabriel Gomez left the team because of a death threat.

Then, in the aftermath of the humiliating loss to the United States, their popular coach, Francisco Maturana, announced he was quitting after eight years in the job. He said Sunday he arrived at that decision before the World Cup, but the timing of his announcement added to the team’s despair.

With nothing more to lose, they played like it against Switzerland. “Without so much pressure on them, they had less of a responsibility,” Maturana said. “They felt freer.”

They were committed on defense, so much so that reckless goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba had few chances to make the mistakes that cost the team so dearly in the first two games, and so relentless were midfielders Carlos Valderrama and Freddy Rincon and forward Faustino Asprilla on offense that Swiss goalkeeper Marco Pascolo will see them looming over him in his nightmares.

So it is a shame they cannot feel more proud of their goals, particularly the first one.

It came only moments after Valderrama had leveled Swiss midfielder Ciriaco Sforza with an elbow to the jaw in the 44th minute, a certain red-card infraction had either the referee or linesman seen it. They apparently did not, but the referee did see a subsequent foul against Valderrama and awarded Colombia a free kick. Valderrama aimed it over the Swiss wall and into the penalty area, where midfielder Herman Gaviria caught the defense unsettled and headed it past Pascolo.

One reason the defense was unsettled, Hodgson said later, was that the man who was supposed to mark Gaviria on set plays, Sforza, was still on the ground, writhing in pain.

The impact of Valderrama’s elbow was not limited to the moment. While the Swiss fans took out their frustrations in the second half on the wild-haired Colombian, whistling derisively every time he touched the ball, so did Sforza, spending more time chasing him than organizing an attack. As a result of that, and injuries to Swiss midfielders Alain Sutter and Christophe Ohrel, there was no attack.

Switzerland’s best chance came in the next-to-last minute, when forward Stephane Chapuisat received a through pass from Nestor Subiat just inside the penalty area but misfired over the goal. That set Colombia off on a counterattack, which it converted with a goal in the 90th minute by Harold Lozano.

For the Colombians, it was an exclamation point that, at least in their minds, erased an imposing question mark.