Fredy Montero may still have chance at World Cup

AmAfter moving to Portugal and promptly leading Sporting CP in scoring, Fredy Montero may finally have gotten his chance to play in the World Cup. Colombia manager Jose Pekerman recently acknowledged that Montero is a player he is "following."

Montero has not scored in any of Lisbon's last two games -- shockingly his longest goal-drought since moving -- but still has three times as many goals as any player on the team after finding the back of the net nine times in his team's first seven games. That total doesn't even include the hat trick he scored against a lower-division team in Portugal's rough equivalent of the U.S. Open Cup.

Montero is also a major reason that Lisbon is second in Portugal's La Liga, three points behind leader FC Porto and even with crosstown rivals Benfica.

Despite the interest, Montero still has some work to do to ultimately earn a spot on Pekerman's final team. Colombia qualified for Brazil as the second best team in CONMEBOL, just two points behind Argentina, and Montero did not earn a single cap during qualification. In fact, Montero only has four career senior team caps and has not been called up since 2009.

Among the forwards Montero will be competing with are Radamel Falcao (Monaco), Jackson Martinez (Porto), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla), Carlos Quintero (Santos Laguna).

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