Bacca: I’ve still got a lot more to give - COLOMBIA
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A dark cloud loomed over Colombian football. With Los Cafateros seventh in the ten-team South America Zone qualifying standings for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™, showing only four points from their opening four encounters, supporters’ concerns ahead of March’s double-header centred on the absences of big-name attackers Radamel Falcao, Teofilo Gutierrez and Jackson Martinez.
Yet consecutive victories, away to Bolivia and at home versus high-flying Ecuador, have revived confidence levels in the Colombian camp and established a new fans’ favourite in the process. Riding to the rescue of his national side was AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca, scorer of the team's second in the 3-2 win in La Paz and a double in the 3-1 victory over La Tri Barranquilla.
Curiously, the three goals were Bacca’s first in competitive action for his country and the ex-Sevilla, Club Brugge and Junior de Barranquilla front-man still ‘only’ has 11 strikes to his name for Colombia. And though that tally might seem on the low side for a 29-year-old, it must be taken into consideration that Bacca only made his Colombian top-flight debut seven years ago.
Moreover, nine years ago he had not even turned pro, and was still working as a ticket clerk on the bus route connecting home town Puerto Colombia and Barranquilla. FIFA.com caught up with the on-fire Cafetero goal-getter after his spectacular week on international duty.
FIFA.com: Would it be fair to say that you’re someone who knows how to bide his time, and for whom patience has brought success?
Carlos Bacca: Amen to that! I always have hope and faith in God. Every day I work hard to improve, with the belief that my moment will come. Life has shown me that is the case. But I’m not someone who rests on his laurels, I’m very ambitious. I think that I’ve still got a lot more to give.
Did the fact Colombia were missing some big-name forwards put extra pressure on you?
The national team has always had good forwards, but above all else we’re a team. Whether it’s Falcao, Teo [Gutierrez], Jackson [Martinez], me, Luis Muriel or Adrian Ramos, we all depend on the work of the team as a whole. I stayed calm throughout, because I knew that I was doing a good job for my club and that the [national team] coaching staff believed in me. I knew that [positive] results were on the way. In football you need to keep your composure and your self-belief.
Even so, after the qualifying defeats to Uruguay and Argentina, and the draw with Chile, the team came under heavy criticism. How did the dressing room handle the situation?
It was difficult, but we didn’t lose our heads. Fortunately, we’ve also got a coaching staff who are experienced at handling that. We had to stick together and stay confident. It must be taken into account that the team has gone through a lot of changes since the last qualifiers, compared to the side at the World Cup or the Copa America. New players have come in, some have changed clubs and are adapting to their new surroundings, while others have got injured. We had to rediscover ourselves and get our ‘vibe’ back again, and we managed that in these past two games. All the same, we mustn’t get overconfident, because the national team doesn’t play again for several months now.
Talking about adapting to new surroundings, how has the switch from Sevilla to Milan gone?
It’s been quite difficult, to be honest. For a striker, Italian football is tough. But the coaching staff have put faith in me, my team-mates have helped me a lot and the club has made things easier for me – and bit by bit the results are coming.
From the outside, things certainly look to be going well, with 16 goals in 34 appearances in your first season. What exactly have you found difficult?
For a striker here, it’s difficult to stand out just in attacking terms, just in terms of goals. Here, a striker has a lot more work to do tactically, in supporting other areas of the team’s play. But I was really excited about coming and playing in Italy and I’m enjoying every day of it.
Why were you so keen on a move to Italy?
When I was a boy in Colombia we’d watch a lot of Italian league matches on TV because there were a lot of our countrymen playing there. We’d watch [Faustino] Asprilla for Parma, Ivan Ramiro Cordoba for Inter, Jorge Bolano for Parma… they were idols at the time. And as a club AC Milan stood out, so I always had that dream that I’ve been able to make happen.
Turning back to the national team. Scoring twice for your country is always special, but it must have been even more so to do that in Barranquilla, right?
(Laughs) Scoring goals is always nice, but of course, to score in the place where I made my debut as a pro, the place where I’m most loved, with my family watching, wearing the national-team shirt and with the fans singing my name – that’s the most beautiful thing that can happen to a player. I’ll never forget it.
Captain James Rodriguez put in a couple of great games too. What do you make of the form he’s in?
I think he’s looking good. A player needs his club to show confidence in him. In his first season [at Real Madrid], which is the hardest, he did really well. Now, after a change of coach and working methods, it’s not gone as well and he’s come in for some criticism. But with the mentality he has, his football ability and his quality, he’s going to achieve big things.
Which teams have caught your eye in South American Zone qualifying?
The South American qualifiers are the toughest in the world, because you’ve got players with a very different kind of talent, who are very intelligent and have that DNA that’s so unique. That shows in the fact there are currently seven teams up there battling it out, tightly grouped together.
Are you surprised by the situation Brazil are in?
For Brazil it’s tough to return to qualifying action after four years away [Editor’s note: Brazil had a six-year gap between World Cup qualifiers, from October 2009 to October 2015]. They missed out on that ‘edge’ you get in competitive action. Footballers need that pressure to motivate themselves and perform at their best. They’re paying for that, because playing friendlies is not the same as playing qualifiers.
On the subject of Brazil: having played so few minutes at the 2014 FIFA World Cup there, are you doubly motivated to reach Russia 2018?
Well, of course, it’s something that really excites me because injury prevented me being at my best in Brazil. Unfortunately, that’s a risk you face in this sport, but hopefully we’ll steer clear of them come 2018.
And after such an intensely emotional week, I imagine you’ll be raring to go for another big game [on 9 April]: Milan vs Juventus in Serie A.
It’s the match everyone wants to play in. We’re facing the league champions, the Champions League runners-up and the league leaders, who have truly great players. We’re really keen to do a good job on our home ground. I’m feeling good and I’ve come back [from international duty] bursting with confidence to try and do my bit.