CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Colombia triumphed over Uruguay 1-0 in Wednesday’s Copa America semi-final, despite playing the second half with only 10 men. This victory sets up a title clash against defending champions Argentina. However, the night ended in chaos as players clashed with fans.
Colombia will face Argentina in Florida on Sunday, while Uruguay will stay in Charlotte for the third-place playoff against Canada on Saturday. This marks Uruguay’s best Copa performance since their last title win in 2011.
Both Argentina and Uruguay have 15 Copa titles each, and Argentina could set a new record with a victory over Colombia at Miami Gardens.
The semi-final in Charlotte, North Carolina, concluded with Uruguayan players confronting Colombian fans in the stands, and security personnel struggled to restore order. The South American governing body CONMEBOL announced an investigation into the incident.
With the majority of the 70,000-plus crowd cheering on Colombia, Jefferson Lerma scored the decisive goal after Uruguay forward Darwin Nunez missed three good chances to put his side ahead.
Liverpool striker Nunez had a great opportunity in the box in the 17th minute but curled his effort inches wide. He later scuffed another shot and missed a second curling strike, leaving him frustrated.
Uruguay paid for these missed chances when Lerma rose above the defense at a corner and squeezed his header past goalkeeper Sergio Rochet. James Rodriguez provided his sixth assist of the tournament.
“We played an excellent match. The referee was not good… The match was very complicated, against a very tough opponent,” said Rodriguez, who broke Lionel Messi’s record of five assists in a single Copa America edition. “I thought today was our best performance by far and we fully deserved the win. But we achieved a well-deserved final. I’ve been here for almost 13 years, wanting this. We are happy.”
