Another delicious match between two South American teams, this battle was fought largely on Colombia’s side of the pitch. Uruguay dominated possession throughout the match, though due to poor accuracy, Colombia’s Oscar Cordoba was only forced to make two saves (all bark and no bite?) Were it not for that, though, this game may have been lopsided in favor of La Celeste. The Colombian defense was completely unable to contain Uruguay’s passing, and gave up many golden chances.
The first goal came about from just such a scenario. In the 69th minute, Uruguay’s second corner kick found its man (as had the first). The striker ripped a shot on net, but Cordoba managed to get a hand on it. Unfortunately, however, Fellow Cafetero Bermudez undid his teammate’s work. As he was sprinting into the box, the deflected ball went off his knee and into the Colombian net, counting as an own goal.
It seemed, then, that the match was over. Uruguay was dominating by every conceivable metric. They got too cocky, however, and paid for it. Juan Pablo Angel received a breakaway pass in midfield and burned the out-of-position Uruguayan defense, running the ball all the way into the box before firing a shot that beat Uruguay’s Fabian Carini at the 85 minute mark. The Colombians then held on through extra time to force a shootout.
The shootout was a quick and brutal affair. All three Colombian players (Asprilla, Viveros, and the other Cordoba) beat the keeper by shooting bottom left, and Cordoba made three acrobatic saves to put Colombia through to the next round, where they will face mighty Brazil. Will their goalkeeping be enough to steal them another match?
Final result: 2-1 Colombia (SO)
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