Uruguay and Colombia will fight for the right to head to Florida and compete in the Copa America final in a mouthwatering semifinal clash at the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina on Wednesday.
Marcelo Bielsa progressed to the last four via a penalty shootout win against Brazil, while Colombia showed its potency in front of the goal by smashing five past a beleaguered Panama without reply in the quarterfinals.
Uruguay already had its reputation as one of the meanest defences in South America, having kept Brazil off the scoresheet for 120 minutes of their quarterfinal encounter even after suffering devastating blows at the back.
They pulled through despite Ronald Araujo’s first-half injury and Nahitan Nandez’s second-half red card.
Having held out for a 12-yard shootout, where Eder Militao’s effort was kept out by Sergio Rochet and Juventus new boy Douglas Luiz failed to find the mark, Uruguay stalwart Jose Gimenez failed to beat Alisson Becker. His blushes were spared by Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Giorgian de Arrascaeta, and finally Manuel Ugarte as Uruguay ended their 13-year exile from the semifinals of the Copa America.
The last time Bielsa’s men won their 15th and most recent title was in the 2011 edition. La Celeste been present in the final four – going out in the quarterfinals in three of the last four editions.
They will now aim for a Florida sojourn, which is a highly realistic aim for a side that boasts five wins on the bounce.
So far in the tournament, Bielsa’s men have conceded just one goal – to Panama in their opening 3-1 group-stage success.
They will have to deal with fresh defensive concerns, which will undoubtedly threaten their remarkable rearguard record and their place in the showpiece match.
While Uruguay failed to keep a clean sheet against Panama in their Copa opener, a captivating Colombia outfit ran into no such defensive difficulties in their quarterfinal showdown, scoring five goals through five different scorers to storm into the final four.
James Rodriguez, John Cordoba, Luis Diaz, Richard Rios, and Miguel Borja all played their direct part in a 5-0 annihilation in Arizona; this saw Nestor Lorenzo’s men match and break multiple national team records, including their biggest-ever margin of victory in a Copa America match.
They will go into this clash on a 27-game unbeaten streak across all tournaments since losing to Argentina in a February 2022 World Cup qualifier.
Should they defeat Uruguay on Wednesday to reach the final, they will set a new record for their longest-ever sequence without defeat.
Having been a semifinal isn’t in the last three editions of the tournament, Colombia’s 10-game victorious streak were stopped in their final group-stage draw with Brazil, but that represents the most minor of minor blots on the Tricolour notebook.
However, the head-to-head record against Uruguay could be more favourable. Their last two encounters with Uruguay have both ended level, but their penalty prowess came to the fore when they defeated La Celeste in the Copa quarters three years back.
