Pre-match: 2026 R-18: Colombia vs Venezuela (9/9/25, Tuesday – 7:30 PM EST)

that's right forgot about that rebound save right to their striker.

 

I dunno.

Are there really any examples of GK that goes from a higuita/gazaniga type of GK and later totally change to a more secure one when they get older? It's more his style. He likes to gamble and live dangerously.
But I guess Cordoba looked awful against romania too and later got praised wherever he played.

Goalies have a long lifetime so I'm perfectly fine with Vargas in the WC, but I think I'd even prefer montero over mier.

Hopefully he can become great and secure one day but the road to get there isn't the NT. Hope a good league can buy him but who'd want him after his constant screwups?

 

Ospina got better as he matured. He was not as reckless as Mier though but he did improve with aerial crosses and set pieces.

I think it is also more of a confidence thing and a cohesion thing with Mier. When he is at his best he plays with swagger. May take time for that and trust with his teammates.

 

especially i dont miss the "ospinas deaths" every time he have an interaction with th ball.

 

The mistakes he makes are genuinely the stupidest things I've ever seen.

I was in disbelief for the 2nd goal, I never want to see this clown again. He can go play for Mexico

 

Luis Suarez second goal is just beautiful, turned into Alexis Sanchez/young CR7 with the stepover in the box and an excellent technical finish in the bottom right

balls of steel on this man

 

You could tell he was determined to maximize his opportunity

 

Agreed. Someone please teach Mier how to properly palm away the ball, his hands positioning is terrible (curved down, overlapping). Good keepers send difficult shots far to the sides or over the line. And sometimes it is better to have a solid keeper that makes the simple saves, than a spectacular one that stops impossible shots but lets in some easy ones.

 

He is not even that great of a shot stopper. I prefer Devis or Montero when it comes to actually cutting off angles and making a spectacular breakaway save.

Where Mier shines though is when he and his teammates have control of tempo. Fancy ball control moves with possession. Very good passing distribution when compared to any other Keeper. But the fundamentals hopefully can be polished up in other facets of his game or else he will get passed up. Let’s see how he mentally bounces back in friendlies.

 

Well outfield players do that too tbh. I've seen lucho and other forward waste excellent opportunities and totally miss the target, and then pretend it's a deflection off a defender and argue for a corner. How can they not see it's not a deflection?

 

I keep thinking how we always ALWAYS struggle with teams that play with intensity. It’s like we cant assimilate to the pace. We want to start slow and steady like we are hitting it and BAM we get scored on.. either starting a game or toward the end.. smh

 

Mentality. That is what it is always about.