It is said that Premier League matches will soon be played in the United States. In a way, that has already happened.
Darwin Núñez misses, Luis Díaz runs wild, Luis Suárez is hysterical, end-to-end action that leaves you breathless: you would be forgiven for forgetting that this match was a Copa América.
semi-final to be held in North Carolina.
Wednesday’s match between Colombia and Uruguay, played in an American football stadium no less, had an overwhelming Premier League flavour to it as Colombia held on to a 1-0 victory in an extremely heated clash.
There was something for everyone, really, including the many Darwin Nunez sceptics after the Liverpool striker squandered three chances in the first half, one of which caused teammate Federico Valverde to pound the ground in frustration.
There would be much more influence of British origin.
Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez had a brutal night, missing several big scoring opportunities
Crystal Palace’s Jefferson Lerma scored the only goal for Colombia, who are now in the Copa America final.
Crystal Palace midfielder Jefferson Lerma scored the opening goal for Colombia (after being assisted by James Rodriguez), who also included former Spurs midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur in their starting XI.
Lerma’s Águilas team-mate Daniel Muñoz was also sent off for a second, silly yellow card on the stroke of half-time when he elbowed Manuel Ugarte, while Manchester United’s Facundo Pellestri was darting up and down the wing, without much luck.
And Liverpool legend – and current Inter Miami star – Suarez came on as a second-half substitute as Uruguay looked to score a goal. He nearly got the goal when he hit the post from inside the area.
But make no mistake: despite the current and former Premier League players, this was a decidedly South American event, as a sea of yellow filled the stands of Bank of America Stadium and, before that, the streets of Charlotte.
A Colombian reporter even said a prayer in Spanish just before the start of the match.
Perhaps he needed it during a hectic night of back-and-forth in which Colombia clung to its slim lead late on.
Things seemed to fall apart for Colombia when Richard Ríos was injured in the second half. Not necessarily because of his previous play, but because of the feverish reaction he provoked when Uruguay continued to play with him slumped in a corner.
James Rodriguez became angry and turned to the referee during the next stoppage of play, earning him a yellow card. The yellow card didn’t do much damage, but the moment of madness got Uruguay back into the game, which saw six yellow cards, one sending off and several occasions when Diaz was knocked to the ground with axe blows.
Nunez missed another chance when the ball got stuck at his feet inside the area, before Colombian Camilo Vargas made a miraculous save in the 68th minute.
There was also a penalty (dismissed) and, most memorably, a chance that the ever-lethal Suarez squandered in the 71st minute, when he hit the post with a shot slightly to the right of the centre.
The mistake sent him to the ground in anguish, before Valverde headed wide minutes later.
Colombia barely held on despite substitute Mateus Uribe missing two golden opportunities after coming on late on.
The first, in the 88th minute, was headed wide from close range and the second, which was even harder to miss, somehow bounced off Rochet and onto the crossbar.
Uruguay continued to press (after Maximiliano Araujo had his shot blocked in the 88th minute), but ultimately fell short.
Colombia, after struggling for much of the second half, is now 28 games unbeaten and will face Argentina on Sunday for a chance at its second Copa America crown.
It will be a difficult situation to accept for Núñez, who missed his lines on several occasions for Uruguay.
His nightmare night began with his first mistake in the 17th minute, when Valverde won the ball in midfield, advanced and passed it to his teammate before firing wide left with a clear view of goal.
Five minutes later, he squandered a chance from the right side of goal (slightly closer than Ollie Watkins’ goal for England earlier in the evening), before firing over in the 28th with Valverde open to his right.
It was then that the Real Madrid player’s frustrations boiled over, and it wasn’t long before Colombia were making their opponents pay for their wastefulness.
Palace’s Lerma headed in Rodriguez’s corner in the 40th minute, while Rios almost made it two just before half-time when his close-range shot was deflected in by Sergio Rochet.
It was a much-needed moment of calm for the goalkeeper, who had earlier made a poor save on a clearance and was almost caught napping in possession of the ball by Jhon Córdoba.
That script changed in the second half, when Colombia’s goal came under fire, but now they will see Lionel Messi and company this weekend.
More to follow