At the iconic "Aztec" in Mexico City, early Thursday morning (4 a.m. our time), Colombia and World Cup debutants, Uzbekistan, will play.
Although the "cafeteros" are the absolute favorites, they know they have to be careful.
"I think the match against Uzbekistan will require a lot of patience. We will have to know when to go forward and when not to. Defensive positioning will also be important to win the balls that will give us a chance to get closer to the opponent's goal," said defender Wheeler Dita.
Nestor Lorenzo's team hopes that they can at least repeat their best finish in Brazil in 2014, when they reached the quarterfinals.
Their first obstacle will be a debutant from Asia who has the great Fabio Cannavaro on the bench.
"This is our first time going to the World Cup, and it's my first time as a coach at this type of tournament," said the 2006 Ballon d'Or winner.
Uzbekistan has nothing to lose.
"The players have ambition. They want to learn, improve, train and work hard and of course - we have nothing to lose. We also have a very difficult group. Colombia and Portugal are in the top 20 best teams in the world. DR Congo has a lot of players in Ligue 1, the Premier League, so they will be difficult.
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