After the teams played to a scoreless draw on Saturday night, Uruguay defeated Brazil 4-2 on penalty kicks to progress to the Copa America semifinals. Manuel Ugarte scored the game-winning goal in the fifth round of the shootout.
The clubs combined for a tournament-high 41 fouls and only four chances on goal in a rough and tumble game that lacked much of the spectacular soccer that these two South American heavyweights are renowned for.
Nahitan Nández of Uruguay was sent off in the 74th minute for a violent tackle on Rodrygo, but in the next 21 minutes, Brazil was unable to score a goal against their 10-man opponent.
After three rounds of the shootout, Douglas Luiz struck the post and goalie Sergio Rochet denied Éder Militão, giving Uruguay a 3-1 lead. To keep Brazil alive, Alisson Becker stopped José María Giménez’s shot in the fourth round, but Ugarte scored the game-winning shot.
Uruguay qualified to play Colombia in the Copa America semifinals on Wednesday night in Charlotte following the third penalty shootout in four quarterfinal encounters. Colombia defeated Panama 5-0 earlier on Saturday to run their winning streak to 27 games.
Tuesday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, is the other semifinal, where the defending champion Argentina takes on Canada. The Miami Gardens final is on July 14.
After receiving two yellow cards, Vinícius Júnior of Real Madrid was suspended and could not attend the game for Brazil. Neymar hasn’t played for the Seleção since he tore his knee ligament during Brazil’s World Cup qualifying match against Uruguay last autumn.
Although that win was Uruguay’s first over Brazil in 13 encounters since 2001, the team led by renowned coach Marcelo Bielsa has now defeated Brazil twice in a row for the first time since 1992.
Colombia opened the scoring quite early. Just 8 minutes after the ball rolled, this team had a goal to take the lead. In this situation, James Rodriguez took a corner kick so Jhon Cordoba headed the ball into Panama’s net, scoring to give Colombia a 1-0 lead.
Winning strongly against Panama 5-0, Colombia entered the semi-finals of Copa America 2024 – 1
Colombia had an easy match against Panama (Photo: Getty).
After that, the situation on the field tilted heavily in favor of the South American team. Then Colombia scored a second goal not long after.
In the 13th minute, a Colombian player was fouled in Panama’s 16m50 area, referee Maurizio Mariani (Italian) awarded a penalty to Colombia. From the 11m mark, James Rodriguez scored accurately, increasing the score to 2-0 for Colombia.
About 4 minutes before the first half ended, Colombia scored a third goal. It was still James Rodriguez who made his mark in this goal for the South American team.
In the 41st minute, James Rodriguez passed the ball to teammate Luis Diaz, allowing this player to press the ball past the opponent’s goalkeeper, increasing the score to 3-0 for Colombia.
Winning over Panama 5-0, Colombia entered the semi-finals of Copa America 2024 – 2
Colombia enters the semi-finals against Uruguay (Photo: Getty).
In the second half, although Colombia actively slowed down the attack, they still had 2 more goals, one of which was scored from the penalty spot.
In the 70th minute, Richard Rios of Colombia scored a beautiful goal after a powerful long-range shot, giving Colombia a 4-0 lead.
Panama’s nightmare match day has not ended. In the second minute of stoppage time in the second half, Colombia was awarded a penalty after an illegal tackle by the Panamanian defender in the penalty area.
From the penalty spot, Miguel Borja defeated Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera, scoring a 5-0 victory for Colombia.
This victory puts Colombia in the semi-finals. Colombia’s opponent in the semi-finals on July 11 will be Uruguay, the team that defeated Brazil in the quarter-finals after a tense penalty shootout.