Colombia surpasses Uruguay to reach third Copa America final — MercoPress

Colombia surpasses Uruguay to reach third Copa America final

In the 39th minute, Jefferson Lerma (16) scored the decisive goal for Colombia with a precise header.

Colombia earned a well-deserved spot alongside defending champions Argentina in the Copa America on Sunday, despite playing without a player at halftime, but beat Uruguay 1-0 at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Charlotte, South Carolina.

Jefferson Lerma’s pinpoint header in the 39th minute left Colombia’s Argentinian coach Néstor Lorenzo with nothing to do but bask in the glory of victory when Daniel Muñoz received a second yellow card and then a red card before half-time.

As a result, Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa found himself needing at least one goal to go into a penalty shootout, which ultimately did not happen. Curiously, Bielsa benched striker Luis Suárez for a long time in the second half. Ultimately, Suárez hit the post in his first minute, proving that the Rosario-born man’s tactics were not suitable.

As time went on, Colombia built a strong back line, so they were closer to extending their lead than Uruguay, who otherwise would have launched a fatal attack before the final whistle. Although Uruguay did not gain an advantage in defense, goalkeeper Sergio Rochte was more active than Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.

In the battle of Argentine coaches, Lorenzo prevailed over the possibly overrated Bielsa, who looked bewildered, repeatedly cursing his team’s mistakes as bad luck, when in fact they were clearly the result of a perfect combination of player strength and strategy, neither of which Uruguay had and Colombia had in abundance.

Moreover, luck was never on Bielsa’s side as he was forced to make an early substitution in the 34th minute when Rodrigo Bentancourt left the field injured.

Uruguay faced Canada for third place in Charlotte on Saturday but missed a chance to tie Argentina, as both teams have won 15 Copa America titles each. Colombia has only reached two finals, losing to Peru in 1975 and defeating Mexico in 2001 for its only title.

This tournament is traditionally reserved for teams from the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol). However, in special tournaments like this one, some visiting teams have participated, but have never won. Mexico has reached the final twice. In 1993 they lost to Argentina.