This Wednesday, July 10, the Copa America semifinal between Colombia and Uruguay was played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The game was dubbed as an “advanced final” due to Colombia and Uruguay being the best looking teams in this Copa America thus far.

A huge majority of Colombian fans were in a sold-out and very electric crowd in Charlotte. Colombia came into the game just missing center-back Jhon Lucumi, but Uruguay was missing both Nahitan Nandez and FC Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo.

Uruguay defeated Brazil on penalties, while Colombia was coming off a huge 5-0 victory against Panama at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Both teams were playing spectacular collective football, and it showed in the opening minutes of the match.

Colombia looked like the better team in the first half, and that translated into the first and only goal of the match in the 39th minute. The goal came off a perfectly executed corner kick by James Rodriguez, who found Lerma inside of the penalty box. Lerma leaped over Uruguay captain Jose Maria Gimenez to head the ball into the back of the net and gain the vital lead before the first-half whistle.

¡GOOOOOOL de Colombia!🔥🇨🇴

💥Jefferson Lerma pone la primera anotación en el partido con un gran remate de cabeza🤩

🇺🇾Uruguay 0-1 Colombia🇨🇴

🔴 EN VIVO: https://t.co/AHD0QNo3sm
📲🇺🇸 TUDN y @Univision#AmericaUnida pic.twitter.com/aZPI26b3pQ

— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) July 11, 2024

Colombia looked to head into the second half with the advantage and like the better team on the pitch, but a vital game-changing moment came moments before the halftime whistle. Daniel Munoz was provoked by Manuel Ugarte, and the Colombian full-back elbowed the Uruguayan midfielder to receive a second yellow card and be expelled from the game.

Munoz had clearly been the best player in this tournament, and the expulsion left Colombia vulnerable against a highly motivated Uruguayan team.

Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo had to make an immediate change to start the second half and replaced midfielder Jhon Arias with full-back Santiago Arias. Down to 10 men, Lorenzo’s original tactics clearly changed, and now, the priority was to keep hold of the slim lead that had been gained in the first half.

Richard Rios needed to be subbed out for Colombia with a muscular injury as Mateus Uribe replaced him in the 61st minute. James Rodriguez also came off for Kevin Castano to aid in this more conservative approach for Los Cafeteros.

The game turned into a war, with Uruguay trying everything going forward and Colombia trying absolutely everything to stop the onslaught of offense. Every possession was contested, and Uruguay did not even look like it had the massive man-advantage with Colombia playing a very intelligent game.

Defender Yerry Mina came on for striker Jhon Cordoba in the 75th minute to try and kill the game, and that substitution was successful. The game ended 1-0 for Colombia in what was a very tiring and hard-fought match for both sides. Colombia’s performance was nothing short of heroic to extend its massive unbeaten streak to a historic 28 games, which is the longest in team history.

While the performance on the pitch was extraordinary, there were some problems in the stands with the report being that Colombia fans attacked families of Uruguayan players including Darwin Nunez and Ronald Araujo, who physically fought some of these fans. At the time of writing, there are still mixed reports, but that is what some Uruguayan players claim.

Colombia now advances to its third final in team history, with the last coming in 2001 when La Sele defeated Mexico to win its first and only Copa America trophy to date. Colombia is set to face Argentina in the final in what is set to be a thrilling match at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami this Sunday, July 14.

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.