Lara and his U17 team were eliminated from the South American Championship and failed to qualify for the U17 World Cup.

He led the Colombia U20s to the 2005 South American Championship title and to the U20 World Cup that same year, where they finished first in their group but lost in the round of 16 to champions Argentina which had Lionel Messi.

After an important draw against Brazil in Rio de Janeiro, the Colombia Football Federation decided to keep him as permanent manager for the rest of the qualifiers.

[14] However, after Colombia failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, he resigned as manager, having only achieved 13 points in 10 games.

However Colombia had a better performance at the World Cup, finishing first in their group and winning all of their games, only conceding one goal.