Ten-man Colombia defeated Uruguay 1-0 to reach the final of the Copa America for the first time in 23 years after an ill-tempered semi-final on Wednesday. A 39th-minute Jefferson Lerma header sealed victory for the Colombians, who will now face holders Argentina in Sunday’s final in Miami. It was an anarchic semi-final played in front of a packed and passionate crowd which ended with scuffles on the field and fighting in the stands, including several players who had climbed in among supporters amid the flying punches.
Colombia, despite having Daniel Munoz sent off just before the interval and facing plenty of Uruguay pressure, hung on for a famous victory to the delight of their massive following of fans.
The downtown streets of the North Carolina city were packed with partying fans in bright yellow Colombia jerseys hours before the kick-off.
Inside the 74,800 capacity Bank of America Stadium, it was like a home game in Bogota with only pockets of Uruguayan supporters breaking up the wall of yellow on all four sides of the venue.
Not surprisingly in such an atmosphere, Colombia started strongly with their livewire Liverpool winger Luis Diaz doing well to wriggle some space for a cross on the left, finding Daniel Munoz at the back post but the full-back’s header was off target.
Uruguay were, as always, a threat on the counter-attack and their Liverpool star, Darwin Nunez, was close to finishing off one break when Rodrigo Bentancur found him with a clever pass but the forward poked his shot wide.
Nunez had another opening when Maximiliano Araujo played him clear in the inside-right channel but the striker rushed his shot, blasting high and wide.
At the other end, Colombia forced a turnover which led to James Rodriguez curling in a cross from the right but Jhon Cordoba’s header was off target.
Lerma breakthrough
The breakthrough came in the 39th minute when Lerma rose majestically above Jose Maria Gimenez and powerfully headed home Rodriguez’s corner.
It was the sixth assist of the tournament for Rodriguez with the former Real Madrid midfielder beating the record for most assists in a single Copa, which was set by Lionel Messi in 2021.
Colombia looked to make the most of their momentum with Richard Rios forcing a save out of Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet, after being played in by Munoz.
But having been so influential down the right in the opening half, Munoz lost his head completely, just before the break, picking up a second yellow card, after landing an elbow on Manuel Ugarte.
It was a moment of madness which left Colombia to defend their lead with just 10 men for the entire second half.
Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo took off Rodriguez, who was also on a yellow card, in the 62nd minute as Uruguay gradually began to turn their numerical advantage into real pressure.
Nicolas de la Cruz threatened with a low drive before substitute Luis Suarez clipped the outside of the post with a drive from the edge of the box after good work from Federico Valverde.
Valverde, the Real Madrid midfielder, then went close himself with a low drive as Colombia’s back-line continued to ride their luck.
Giveaway from Uruguay keeper and fell to Mateus Uribe, who despite time and space placed his shot wide of the post.
In stoppage time Uruguay had a great chance to force penalties when Nunez laid the ball off to substitute Giorgian de Arrascaeta on the edge of the box but he leaned back and put his shot over the bar.
There was still time for Uribe to waste another chance to make sure of the win, this time hitting the bar in the final minute, but he will be forgiven his wastefulness by the delirious Colombian supporters.
The celebrations were marred by ugly scenes in the stands will concern organizers CONMEBOL ahead of a final which is sure to attract huge numbers of Argentines as well as Colombians.
Topics mentioned in this article
Spanish giants Real Madrid on Wednesday confirmed that the French superstar Kylian Mbappe will wear jersey number 9 in his first season with the Los Blancos. Earlier in June, Real Madrid revealed the arrival of Mbappe in the club. The 25-year-old World Cup winner joined the Los Merengues after leaving Paris Saint-Germain (PSG). The French superstar will follow his idol Cristiano Ronaldo’s footsteps who also wore the jersey number 9 after joining the Whites in 2009. Currently, Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior is wearing the legendary number 7 jersey, which is why Mbappe has been given the number 9. Earlier, Karim Benzema wore the number 9 jersey and set many records for Los Blancos.
The 15-time UEFA Champions League (UCL) winner also confirmed that French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga will wear jersey number 6 and Uruguayan Fede Valverde will shift to jersey number 8, taking over from Toni Kroos. Defensive midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni will move to 14, a jersey worn previously by Xabi Alonso and Casemiro. Turkish youngster Arda Guler will wear the jersey with the number 15 on his back. Meanwhile, Spanish defender Jesus Vallejo will wear the number 18.
Changes with shirt numbers in the squad.#RealMadrid
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadriden) July 10, 2024
“Several Real Madrid players will change their jersey numbers at the start of the 2024/25 season. Camavinga, who until now wore the number 12, will change to 6. Valverde will change from 15 to 8 and Tchouameni will move from 18 to 14. Arda Guler, who wore the number 24 last season, will wear 15 and Vallejo will wear the number 18,” Real Madrid stated.
“Real Madrid CF and Kylian Mbappe have reached an agreement under which he will become a Real Madrid player for the next five seasons,” Real Madrid said in an official statement while announcing Mbappe’s arrival in the club.
Mbappe joined PSG from AS Monaco in 2017, following that he has played 308 matches for the Paris club and scored 256 goals. The French striker was 19 years old when he left his childhood club for PSG. In the recently concluded season of the Ligue 1, the Frenchman appeared in 29 matches and got the back of the net 27 times. He also made 7 assists in the French league.
However, Mbappe never hid from accepting that his dream was to play for the 14-time UEFA Champions League (UCL) winner Real Madrid. For the last several years, Los Blancos have been trying to bring him to Madrid, but Mbappe wasn’t keen on an exit before the expiration of his contract. In 2021, Real Madrid had gone all out to sign Mbappe, offering 220 million Euros. However, PSG turned it down.
Topics mentioned in this article
The United States crashed out of the Copa America on Monday after a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay, as Panama sealed their place in the quarter-finals with a 3-1 win over Bolivia. The tournament hosts suffered an upset 2-1 defeat to Panama last week and went into Monday’s final Group C game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City needing to match or better Panama’s result against Bolivia to advance. But US coach Gregg Berhalter’s side never looked like doing enough to seriously threaten a well-drilled Uruguay who advance to the last eight as group winners.
“Just looking at the faces of the staff and the players, we’re bitterly disappointed with the results,” Berhalter said.
“We know that we’re capable of more and in this tournament we didn’t show it. It’s really as simple as that. We should have done better.
“We’ll do a review and figure out what went wrong, why it went wrong, but it’s an empty feeling right now for sure.”
USA captain Christian Pulisic blamed a lack of attacking quality.
“We had a good start and brought a lot of energy, but just didn’t have enough quality,” he said. “We just couldn’t find a solution.”
Hopes of a great escape for Berhalter’s men faded inside the first 30 minutes as news filtered through that Panama had taken a 1-0 lead against Bolivia in Orlando.
US hopes were revived early in the second half after Bolivia equalised, leaving the hosts on course for qualification, provided they continued to hold Uruguay.
Yet the US optimism was punctured just moments later when Uruguay took the lead in controversial circumstances through Mathias Olivera on 66 minutes.
Ronald Araujo’s powerful header from Nicolas de la Cruz’s free-kick was parried away by US goalkeeper Matt Turner, but only into the path of Olivera, who tucked away the rebound.
Replays appeared to show that Olivera was offside when Araujo first made contact with the ball, but despite a lengthy VAR review, Peruvian referee Kevin Ortega ruled that the goal should stand.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Berhalter said. “I don’t understand it, I feel like I know the offside rule pretty well.
“It’s disappointing. It really is. But you know that that happens in football, and we have to live with it.”
The mathematics of qualification looked even more bleak for the US after news that Panama had scored again through Eduardo Guerrero to regain the lead at 2-1, and the final nail in the coffin came when Cesar Yanis added a third for Panama in stoppage time.
The USA’s first-round exit raises fresh questions about the future of Berhalter, who remains deeply unpopular amongst swathes of American fans.
Berhalter was only reappointed to the US job in June last year following a hiatus after leading the team to the 2022 World Cup.
The nature of Monday’s early exit is certain to reignite debate about whether he is the best man to lead the United States into the 2026 World Cup on home soil.
Failure to defeat Uruguay, 14th in the latest FIFA rankings, extends Berhalter’s poor record against top 20 teams.
Berhalter has just five wins in 20 matches against top-20 teams during his reign, and four of those victories came against regional rivals Mexico — who were also eliminated from the Copa in the first round.
That dismal sequence continued after a toothless attacking performance against Uruguay, where the US registered only three shots on goal in a misfiring offensive display.
Defender Antonee Robinson described the officiating as “amateur hour” but stressed responsibility for the defeat lay with the players.
“Just not enough quality in the final third,” Robinson said.
“At the end of the day we weren’t good enough to get the result today. This is on us.”
Topics mentioned in this article
Alex Meret’s unfortunate own goal handed Real Madrid a 3-2 win at Napoli on Wednesday which moved the Spanish giants top in Champions League Group C. Italian international goalkeeper Meret could do nothing to stop Federico Valverde‘s powerful, deflected shot crashing out off the bar and back into the goal off his outstretched arm 12 minutes from the end of an entertaining clash in Naples. That unlucky rebound maintained Madrid’s perfect start to the group stage and moved them three points clear of both the Italian champions and Braga, 3-2 winners over bottom side Union Berlin earlier on Tuesday.
“It was a difficult match, very hard-fought right until the last minute,” said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti to Sky Sport in Italy.
“It seems absurd to me that that goal is given as a Meret own goal… Valverde is a great player and a great midfielder, he creates a lot and that was a great strike.”
Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham scored the away side’s other goals on former Napoli coach Ancelotti’s return to southern Italy, giving Madrid a half-time lead after Leo Ostigard headed the hosts in front in the 19th minute.
England midfielder Bellingham, who also set up Vinicius’ smart low finish, has now scored eight times in his first nine Madrid matches in all competitions and looked a class above most of the other players on the pitch.
“What’s so amazing about Bellingham is that he’s only 20. He has great quality, a strong personality and character,” added Ancelotti.
“He’s a young man of 20 who’s showing everyone what extraordinary talent he has.”
Piotr Zielinski had given Napoli hope that they could build on a recent burst of good form when he smashed in a 54th-minute penalty harshly given for a Nacho handball while challenging Victor Osimhen.
Nigeria forward Osimhen was playing for Napoli after backing supporters following a row with the club over an insulting video on social media, telling his countrymen that they were not racist.
Napoli shaken
Tuesday’s match took place in a city shaken by a series of earthquakes in recent days and the Stadio Maradona rocked as the two teams went straight at it from kick-off.
Madrid were more dangerous in the opening exchanges, Rodrygo and Bellingham having respective efforts stopped by Meret and Mathias Olivera in the first 11 minutes.
But shortly afterwards Ostigard struck first blood for Napoli, powering in a header after Kepa Arrizabalaga flapped at Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s cross and Natan looped an effort of his own off the crossbar.
Napoli had their tails up but a sloppy pass from captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo allowed Bellingham to pounce and help bring Real level in the 27th minute.
Bellingham nipped in to intercept Di Lorenzo’s ball into midfield from the right flank and only had to make a couple of steps before feeding Vinicius who calmly slotted home his first goal since mid-August.
And Bellingham silenced the previously boisterous crowd seven minutes later with a touch of pure class, collecting a pass in midfield before bursting forward, brushing off Ostigard and thumping home.
Kepa made up for his error for Napoli’s goal six minutes before the break when he pulled off a super stop to deny Osimhen’s bullet header from Matteo Politano’s whipped cross.
Napoli were not downhearted and were rewarded for their enterprising play when referee Clement Turpin decided after checking the pitch-side monitor that Nacho had handled while challenging Osimhen.
Ancelotti was dumbfounded while Zielinski crashed his penalty past Kepa and in off the post, and not long after the Pole stung the Madrid keeper’s gloves with a powerful drive from just outside the area.
The introduction of Luka Modric helped turn the match in Madrid’s favour, and Bellingham should have put them back in the lead when he headed wide after Vinicius’ stinging shot was well saved by Meret.
But Meret could only look on in horror as Valverde was bundled by his teammates in celebration following a goal which gave Madrid the initiative in what looks to be a tight group.
Topics mentioned in this article
Real Madrid came from behind to beat Real Sociedad 2-1 and climb back to the top of La Liga on Sunday, maintaining their perfect start to the season. Earlier Sergio Ramos made his second Sevilla debut in a narrow win over Las Palmas, while Mason Greenwood played his first match for Getafe, on loan from Manchester United. After Barcelona put five past Real Betis in a flashy display on Saturday the onus was on Carlo Ancelotti’s Madrid side to maintain their 100 percent record and they did, against the tricky Basque visitors.
Propelled by the electric Takefusa Kubo, Real Sociedad took an early lead through Ander Barrenetxea, but Madrid hit back with goals from Fede Valverde and Joselu to earn their fifth win from five games.
England international Jude Bellingham was unable to continue his excellent goalscoring form, after netting five goals in his first four Madrid matches, but remains the division’s top goalscorer.
Madrid start their Champions League campaign on Wednesday at home against Union Berlin, and despite losing Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema in the summer and star player Vinicius Junior to injury, remain a force to be reckoned with.
“We started by letting in a goal and the good thing is that we were capable of turning it around — the bad thing is that we have to avoid that,” said Ancelotti.
“We did it thanks to the commitment, energy and will of the team, we have an intensity that opponents find hard to cope with for 90 minutes.”
The Basque visitors went ahead at the new-look Santiago Bernabeu after only five minutes, when Kubo stroked a fine pass into Barrenetxea’s path.
Kepa Arrizabalaga kept out his first effort with a fine save but could not claw out the second.
Kubo then beat the goalkeeper with a brilliant strike but it was disallowed for offside.
Joselu hit the crossbar with the goal gaping and Alex Remiro denied Dani Carvajal as Madrid found their footing.
Valverde slammed Real Madrid level less than a minute into the second half, lashing Fran Garcia’s cut-back in off the post from outside the area.
The left-back created the second goal too, crossing for target man Joselu to nod the hosts ahead at the back post.
Spain international Joselu was immediately taken off for Eduardo Camavinga, as Ancelotti sought more control of the game.
The Italian got it too, with the visitors effectively shut down, no longer finding spaces between Madrid lines.
“This is the Bernabeu and with our fans we turned it around,” said Joselu.
“We’re doing a bit of everything, we’re confident in ourselves, there’s a lot of quality in the squad and we came from behind again.”
Madrid lead Barcelona by two points, with both of Spain’s giants unbeaten, although the Catalans drew their opening game against Getafe.
Sergio Ramos played for Sevilla for the first time since he left the club in 2005 as they earned their first win of the season over Las Palmas.
The 37-year-old centre-back started in the 1-0 victory at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan, following his arrival from Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
Ramos, who left Sevilla for Real Madrid 18 years ago to the ire of many supporters in Andalucia, was cheered on his return.
Belgian winger Dodi Lukebakio sent Sevilla ahead after 71 minutes and with Ramos patrolling, they kept their first clean sheet of the campaign.
“I felt a lot of emotion … it was amazing to find my people again, my home, my fans, it’s unique,” Ramos told Movistar.
The defender admitted some nerves about how fans would treat him after playing at a rival club for so long.
“I had a few doubts at first but the reception I had on my arrival, I will take to the grave … now I can die happy,” he added.
Elsewhere Pacheta got off to a winning start as Villarreal’s new coach thanks to Alexander Sorloth’s 94th minute winner against Almeria in a 2-1 victory.
Getafe edged Osasuna 3-2, with Greenwood making his debut, and his first appearance since January 2022.
The English striker, on loan at Getafe from Manchester United, was charged with attempted rape and assault in October 2022 but the charges were later dropped.
Getafe coach Jose Bordalas sent Greenwood on in the 77th minute to applause from home fans at the club’s Coliseum Alfonso Perez stadium.
A group of Osasuna supporters greeted the 21-year-old’s arrival to Spanish football with chants of “Greenwood, die”.
“I didn’t hear them so I have nothing to say,” said Bordalas. “I am very happy with the kid’s debut.”
Topics mentioned in this article
Nicolas de la Cruz scoring twice while Federico Valverde also got on the scoresheet.© AFP
Uruguay turned on the style, under new coach Marcelo Bielsa, as they beat Chile 3-1 in their opening South American World Cup qualifier on Friday. Argentine Bielsa, who had previously coached Chile between 2007 and 2011, opted for a youthful line-up without veteran strikers Edinson Cavani and Luis Suarez. Bielsa was rewarded with an entertaining display from his new charges with River Plate attacking midfielder Nicolas de la Cruz scoring twice. De la Cruz opened the scoring with a fine left-foot strike in the 38th minute before Real Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde doubled the advantage on the stroke of half-time.
De la Cruz broke down the left before switching to Valverde, who made space before burying a shot into the far bottom corner.
The third goal, in the 71st minute, came after a fast break down the left with Liverpool striker Darwin Nunez pulling the ball back into the path of De la Cruz who made no mistake from close range.
Chile pulled a goal back three minutes later with Arturo Vidal scrambling the ball home after a Diego Valdes header came out off the bar.
Five-times world champions Brazil were hosting Bolivia later on Friday.
The qualification process for the expanded 48-team World Cup, to be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico in 2026, offers two extra places for South America with six teams qualifying directly.
The seventh out of the 10 nations will head to an inter-continental play-off.
The opening games on Thursday saw Argentina beat Ecuador 1-0 with a goal from Lionel Messi while Peru drew 0-0 at Paraguay and Colombia beat Venezuela 1-0.
Topics mentioned in this article