THE MOST EMOTIONAL IMAGE OF THE DAY IN COLOMBIA? The tears of Borré, Juanfer and Lucho Díaz hugging James Rodríguez after advancing to the final of the Copa America

The Tricolor beats the Celeste 1-0 with a goal from Jefferson Lerma and resists the entire second half with one less man due to the expulsion of Daniel Muñoz

The unbeatable Colombia returns to a Copa América final 23 years after the only title it won at home. The most epic version of the Tricolor, which rҽmains undefeated in its time in the United States, knocked down Uruguay this Wednesday with an accurate header from Jefferson Lerma and meets Argentina this Sunday. With a record-brҽaking James Rodríguez, who added a new assist, Néstor Lorenzo’s pupils resisted the Uruguayan siege throughout the second half with one man less, after the expulsion of full-back Daniel Muñoz. James and Lucho Díaz, the two great Colombian figures, finished the game in training bibs, haranguing from the bench to the yellow crowd that filled the stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

With two dynamic and intense teams, aggrҽssive in their pressure, the first minutes were consumed without hardly any damage being done. It was a mirage, a brief space of study. The first attempt belonged to Colombia, with a very high shot from John Arias, the Fluminense winger who in Colombia is the glue of the engine room, an all-rounder who defends and a𝖙𝖙acks. From that moment on the vertigo was unstoppable. The always elusive Lucho Díaz took a cross that managed to overcome the Uruguayan defenders, but the header from Daniel Muñoz, who a𝖙𝖙acks as a winger with his national team, went very close to Sergio Rochet’s post. Lerma, who returned to the starting lineup after missing the win over Panama, attempted another mid-range shot in a back-and-forth game, with momentum and rhythm. In the other area, Darwin Núñez escaped on two occasions from the coffee center backs, Davinson Sánchez and Carlos Cuesta, but on three occasions he narrowly missed their shots. The Liverpool striker, where he shares the a𝖙𝖙ack with Lucho, forgave a fortunate Colombia.

James activated his silky left foot on the half hour mark, with a precise and curved cross into the heart of the area, but John Córdoba missed his header. It was the test of the Colombian goal, which came once again from the boots of their ten and captain. In a corner Қick, James, who else if not him, lifted a ball that landed on the head of Lerma, who surpassed José María Giménez in a sustained jump and put it into Rochet’s post. The playmaker, as a quarterback, has accumulated six assists in the United States, a figure that no one had reached before in a Copa América. He had already provided two assists in the debut against Paraguay (2-1), another in the win over Costa Rica (3-0) and two more in the other quarterfinal win over Panama (5-0), a match in which he also scored from a penalty. “I am very proud of this family. “This is his Cup, without a doubt,” Lucho Díaz said at the end of the game, moved to tears. “I have let him know that he has always been my idol,” he said.

It was a waɾ of attrition, with a Colombia brave and rolling up its sleeves. Camilo Vargas stopped the attempts of Marcelo Bielsa’s Celeste – who dressed in white – and a shot by Luis Suárez, who came in from the bench, took splinters off the post. Colombia, retreating but without giving up the ball, could have extended the advantage in one of its abundant counterattacks. In the end, Mateus Uribe had the luxury of stepping into the area, had two unbeatable opportunities and even shook the crossbar at the last minute, with his shot deflected by Rachet. “The boys who defended have entered well… it is a well-deserved final,” celebrated a rejuvenated James, the main protagonist of the tournament. “We suffered a lot, we knew how to adapt to the game. We know how to compete in adversity”, supported Davinson Sánchez, imperial from start to finish. Colombia triumphed by resisting the Uruguayan.