Irene hits Colombian footballers' travel plans

Published Aug. 29, 2011 10:16 p.m. ET

foxsports

Members of the Colombian national football team have finally traveled to the U.S. for two friendlies after being held up by the aftermath of former Hurricane Irene.

Interim coach Leonel Alvarez, members of the coaching staff and three players were delayed in Bogota for a day after the lingering effects of Irene caused their flights to be rescheduled to Monday.

Colombia is due to play Honduras in New Jersey on Saturday and faces Jamaica on Sept. 6 in Washington.

Foreign-based players in Europe, Mexico and Argentina also had to postpone their arrivals to the United States due to the storm.

The two matches are expected to go ahead without further problems.

One player who will miss out is captain Mario Yepes, who withdrew from the squad at the request of his club, AC Milan.

The Italian side says the defender is not fit enough to play in the games.