The defending Copa America champion, Argentina, will be challenged by Colombia in the 2024 Copa America final. La Tricolor - (Colombia's nickname) - successfully advanced to the final after eliminating Uruguay in the semifinals played at the Bank of America Stadium, on Thursday (11/07) morning IST.
It was not easy for Nestor Lorenzo's team to advance to the final, especially as they played with 10 players when Crystal Palace's right-back, Daniel Munoz, received a red card in the 45+1 minute.
Colombia started the match well and set the tone. Colombia's two defensive midfielders, Richard Rios and Jefferson Lerma, played well to guard the second line against Uruguayan players such as Manuel Ugarte, Rodrigo Bentancur, Nicolas de la Cruz and Federico Valverde.
Colombia had chances but in the end, they only resulted in a goal in the 39th minute, from a dead ball situation. James Rodriguez sent the ball into the penalty box and Jefferson Lerma headed the ball into the net. 1-0 Colombia lead.
Uruguay were not without chances in the first half and created five chances, three of which were golden opportunities for Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez, but none of them resulted in a goal. The score remained that way until half-time with Colombia in the lead.
Colombia played with 10 men and Uruguay came out attacking in the second half, trying to take advantage of the numerical advantage. Marcelo Bielsa brought on Luis Suarez, Cristian Olivera and Giorgian de Arrascaeta to make Uruguay play more offensively.
Suarez's introduction added to Uruguay's attacking firepower. In the 71st minute, he received the ball from Valverde but his shot was off target.
Colombia played more defensively with Yerry Mina coming on in the 75th minute to replace Jhon Cordoba. Uruguay attacked but had no answer because of Colombia's strong defence.
In the end, Colombia won 1-0 and successfully defended tooth and nail against the onslaught of Uruguay, who had final statistics of 62 percent possession and 11 attempts on goal (two on target).
Colombia will face Argentina in the 2024 Copa America final which will be played on Monday (15/07) at 05.30 IST at Hard Rock Stadium.
Lineups
Colombia (4-2-3-1): Camilo Vargas; Jefferson Lerma, Richard Rios (Mateus Uribe 61'); Luis Diaz (Luis Sinisterra 86'), Jhon Arias (Santiago Arias 46'), James Rodriguez (Kevin Castano 62'); Jhon Cordoba (Yerry Mina 75')
Coach: Nestor Lorenzo
Uruguay (3-2-4-1): Sergio Rochet; Mathias Olivera (Giorgian de Arrascaeta 46'), Jose Maria Gimenez, Sebastian Caceres; Manuel Ugarte, Federico Valverde; Rodrigo Bentancur (Guillermo Varela 34' - Luis Suarez 67'), Nicolas de la Cruz (Agustin Canobbio 90'), Maximiliano Araujo, Facundo Pellistri (Cristian Olivera 46'); Darwin Nunez
Coach: Marcelo Bielsa