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4 months ago
26
They say Premier League matches could soon be played in the USA. In a way, that's aleady happened.
Darwin Nunez misses, mazy Luis Diaz runs, Luis Suarez hysterics, lung-busting end-to-end action - you'd be forgiven for forgetting that this match was a Copa America semifinal taking place in North Carolina.
Wednesday's matchup between Colombia and Uruguay - played in an American footballs stadium, no less - had an overwhelming Premier League flavor as Colombia clung to a 1-0 win in an extremely heated clash.
Really, there was something for everybody, including Darwin Nunez's many skeptics after the Liverpool forward burned three chances in the first half - one which caused teammate Federico Valverde to pound the floor in frustration.
There would be plenty more British-based influence.
Liverpool's Darwin Nunez had a brutal night as he missed several great chances to score
Crystal Palace's Jefferson Lerma notched the lone goal for Cololmbia, who are now in the Copa America finals
Crystal Palace midfielder Jefferson Lerma scored the opener for Colombia (after being assisted by James Rodriguez), who also started former Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.
Lerma's Eagles teammate Daniel Munoz was also sent off for a second, silly yellow card on the stroke of half time when he elbowed Manuel Ugarte, while Man United's Facundo Pellestri bustled up and down the wing - without much luck.
And Liverpool legend - and current Inter Miami star - Suarez was brought on as a second half-substitute with Uruguay chasing a goal. He almost just got them one when he hit the post from inside the box.
Make no mistake about it, though: despite the current Premier League players and alums, this was a decidedly South American affair, as a sea of yellow filled the Bank of America Stadium stands, and the streets of Charlotte before.
One Colombian reporter even performed a prayer in Spanish right before kick off.
He may have needed it during a hectic, end-to-end night that saw Colombia clinging to their slender lead towards the end.
Things seemed to go off the rails for Colombia when Richard Rios got hurt in the second half. Not necessarily because of his play prior, but because of the feverish reaction it elicited as Uruguay continued play with him crumpled in the corner.
James Rodriguez angrily beelined to the referee and got in his face during the next stoppage and was subsequently booked. The yellow didn't do much damage, but the moment of madness saw Uruguay creep back in the game, one which six yellow cards, one dismissal and several instances of Diaz being hacked to the ground.
Nunez again saw a chance go begging when the ball got stuck in his feet in the box, before Colombia's Camilo Vargas made a fairly miraculous diving save in the 68th minute.
There was a (discarded) penalty shout too, and more memorably a chance that the ever-lethal Suarez spurned from close in the 71st minute.
The miss caused him to fall to the ground in anguish, before Valverde whizzed a shot wide minutes later.
Colombia, barely, would hold on despite sub Mateus Uribe missing two golden chances after coming on as a sub.
The first of which, in the 88th minute, was hit wide from point-blank range and the second - which was even harder to miss - somehow ricocheting off of Rochet onto the bar.
Uruguay kept pushing - after Maximiliano Araujo saw his shot saved from close in the 88th - but ultimately came up short.
Colombia, after suffering for much of the second half, are 28 games unbeaten and will face Argentina for a chance at their second Copa America crown.
It will be a hard pillow to swallow for Nunez, who flubbed his lines on several occasions for Uruguay.
His nightmarish night began with his first miss in the 17th minute, when Valverde won the ball in the middle of the field, drove forward and squeezed it to his teammate before he shot left with a clear look on goal.
Five minutes later, he spurned a chance from the right side of goal (think a little closer than Ollie Watkins' goal for England earlier in the night), before blazing over in in the 28th with Valverde open to the right of him.
It was then that the Real Madrid man's frustrations boiled over, and it wasn't long before Colombia made their opponents pay for the wastefulness.
Palace's Lerma headed in a corner from Rodriguez in the 40th minute, while Rios nearly made it two right before halftime, when his close shot was thwarted by Sergio Rochet.
It was a calm and much-needed moment from the goalie, who had earlier badly sliced a clearance and was nearly caught napping in possession by Jhon Cordoba.
That script turned in the second half as Colombia's goal came under fire - but they'll now see Lionel Messi and co. this weekend.
More to follow
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