No disputing that Argentina thoroughly deserved that against a hugely underwhelming Colombia. In the end, the penalties summed up the game as a whole in some ways – they had some glorious chances to win it, but couldn’t finish it off....until Tevez, who looked a safe pair of hands to these eyes, did the job consummately. Some of those later penalties, especially those by Muriel and Murillo, will make horror compilation viewing.
Anyway, it’ll be Argentina v Brazil or Paraguay in the semis, so it’ll be a cracker whatever happens. But for now....I’m tired, you’re tired, so goodnight and thanks a lot for your company this evening. See you soon.
Updated
Carlos Tevez scores and Argentina go through!
5-4 on penalties after a 0-0 draw!
NOW MURILLO SPOONS HIS PENALTY HIGH AND WIDE! Can Argentina finish it now?
Rojo to win it now....AND HE MISSES TOO, CLIPPING THE BAR!
This is incredible. Argentina are just looking every gift horse in the mouth.
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...SAVED BY ROMERO TO HIS RIGHT!
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Level pegging again! Here is Zuniga....
Lucas Biglia to win it.....PUTS IT WIDE OF OSPINA’S LEFT POST! 4-4!
Cardona.....squeezes his pen just beneath Romero! 4-4!
Lavezzi....4-3 to Argentina!
Updated
MURIEL BLASTS IT TWO GOALS HIGH! What a miss! Still 3-3, Argentina have the advantage....
Muriel now....
Banega steps up...and this time finds Ospina’s bottom left corner! Good pen, 3-3!
Cuadrado is next....and he does much as Garay did! 3-2 Colombia!
Garay thuds it into the roof! 2-2!
Garay, now...
Now for Falcao....who thunders his into the top right! 2-1 Colombia!
Messi scores! A very similar penalty. 1-1.
Now for Messi....
James scores! Sends Romero the wrong way, then gives him a hug. 1-0 Colombia.
Here we go. The goalkeepers sort of medium-five it, Ospina a tad more eagerly. James to go first, for Colombia...
Robin Hughes has had a night in: “I’m ashamed to say (as a lifelong Spurs fan and year-long Walthamstow resident) that I never had the foggiest about Seven Sisters Market. As it is, I’m watching the match on my computer with a can of [continental lager], girlfriend and cat asleep, libertines on the stereo through indie nostalgia.”
You can head there for the semi-final, Robin, when Colombia mug it on penalties.
Well, then. Just as Argentina seemed to be fading, they found a second wind and so nearly won the match late on, hitting the woodwork twice in a couple of minutes – the second time thanks mainly to another incredible Ospina save – and almost forcing a Zapata own goal as time ticked down. Colombia improved in that half, but only really manufactured one half-situation for James and Ibarbo, and Jackson’s header from the subsequent corner. They should have been well beaten, but all bets are now off....
Full-time: Argentina 0-0 Colombia – we go to penalties!
Now we’ll see just how good a night Ospina is having.
90+4 min: Last-ditch corner for Argentina, won off Cuadrado. They couldn’t, could they? Banega inswings it from the left but Ospina, who might be having One Of Those Nights, takes.
90+3 min: Argentina bring the cavalry forward for a free kick by Banega, some 45 yards out. He scoops a very, very strange delivery far beyond the goal. Nobody looks happy at all.
Updated
90+1 min: Four minutes of added time will be played. Messi goes on a wriggly run along the right byline but can only win a corner, and ends up being booked after getting in the game’s latest argument. He then gets on the end of the flag kick, but it’s headed into the ground and well over.
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88 min: Argentina almost win it! Oh my...it’s a lovely ball dinked over the top by Lavezzi, with his first touch, for Tevez, who is racing Zapata. Ospina comes out only for Zapata to inadvertently nudge it past him....and it’s hacked away by Murillo just as it looks like dribbling over the line!
Updated
87 min: Now Di Maria, who was everywhere in the first half and quite superb, departs and we see Ezequiel Lavezzi for the final few minutes.
87 min: No, because he’s actually not very good in the air. But we have a flashpoint now as Falcao finds his way into the book for a little jab and barge at Otamendi. Is that the first card of the half? I think it might be.
86 min: Ibarbo off and Luis Muriel on. Does the substitute give aerial prowess classes called “Muriel’s Heading”?
85 min: Those saves from Ospina...see them tomorrow if you can, however this ends up.
84 min: Rojo barges James rather needlessly and now Colombia have a dangerous set piece of their own, 25 yards out and to the right a little. Cuadrado puts in a delicious ball and Falcao and Zapata outnumber Rojo at the far post....but none of them can get a touch.
80 min: As close as you can possibly get from Otamendi! Argentina, buoyed now, have a left-sided corner and Di Maria plays it in. Otamendi flicks out a right boot to meet it six yards out and it is wonderfully saved one-handed by Ospina, diving to his left, before hitting the post, running along the line and being booted away by Zapata! That may have been Ospina’s best save of a fine bunch – remarkable reactions.
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78 min: And Banega clips the bar! He plays a nice exchange with Messi in his first involvement and then, after Tevez is tackled, receives the ball 25 yards out and a little to the right. He dips and swerves a wonderful effort that comes down just too late and snicks off the angle! What an introduction that would have been!
77 min: Yes, here is Banega. He replaces Pastore, who has played pretty well but was the obvious one to go off.
76 min: Messi is trying to get onto the ball but nothing is coming off just now, and nor is it for Di Maria, who is under much closer attention in this half. Argentina will soon introduce Ever Banega.
74 min: And now here is Falcao, replacing Jackson Martinez and allowing James to wrap the captain’s armband upon his sleeve. Can he prove the doubters wrong>
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73 min: Here is Carlos Tevez, replacing Aguero, who has not really been involved since the break. Can he add the energy that has seeped away rather in this half?
72 min: Then Messi overruns the ball and is greeted by Murillo. Argentina are, just for the moment, not quite on top.
71 min: Pastore overplays the ball and there are a few whistles ringing out now.
70 min: Now Argentina win a free-kick some 30 yards out, centrally. Messi might fancy this one, but the odds are again stacked against him. This time he crosses, I think for Garay, but nobody can get onto it. Then Rojo has to be sharp at the other end to prevent a slide-rule pass from releasing Cuadrado. Are Argentina running out of ideas?
67 min: And Colombia have a chance....and a goal attempt! Cuadrado gets to the line, and his low ball is cleared to the edge of the area where James is lurking. At his best, wouldn’t he crack one from here? Maybe, but he looks left for Ibarbo and he’s squeezed out, settling for a corner. From that, Martinez leaps high and thuds a header that Sergio Romero, who we shall mention again, has to grab onto!
66 min: Just over 65 minutes, zero shots for the Colombians. But they’ve been a little more secure in this half, while never looking comfortable. Argentina just starting to snatch at one or two things.
Martino's assistant Pautasso sent off for protesting about that Cuadrado foul on Rojo. Easy option for ref, really.
— Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) June 27, 2015
I had not spotted this; our man in the crowd did.
63 min: I think the Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero deserves a mention here, at least before he saves the decisive penalty later, so here is a mention: Sergio Romero.
62 min: Colombia enter the Argentina area! The Roma winger Ibarbo makes headway down the left and puts in a cross, which is headed away. He then tries again and looks for a corner, but is unsuccessful.
61 min: Another niggly foul by a Colombian – Murillo on Aguero. Another dangerous-looking free kick on the right. Messi again....and this time he seems to go for goal from what, even for him, is a very tough angle. Over it sails.
59 min: And that last sequence was telling. Colombia have been poor but Argentina have pressed ferociously. And they’re pressing again here....for a red card for Cuadrado, who is nowhere near the ball as Rojo heads it away, catching the left back squarely. And yep, I think he should get a second yellow there. There is now some serious pointing on the touchline, Martino rushing 20 yards to take exception to something uttered by the Colombian bench.
56 min: Rojo stops James adroitly as he tries to run the ball out. Colombia find it hard to clear their lines and Pastore does superbly to charge down a clearance from Murillo, who was closed down like a flash. He gets into a good crossing position on the right but chips it beyond everyone.
55 min: Ospina did clatter Di Maria there but he was well within his rights to come out and get that. In the event, he appears to be the worse off after falling – from quite a height, like Otamendi just now – pretty badly. But he’s back up now, albeit wincing. Should get more than the one minute’s stoppage time now. Should.
53 min: James, who we have barely seen a thing of, gets a little bit of room in the pocket behind Jackson but cannot find a through pass. Straight to the other end and Messi looks up to find Di Maria early, running down the middle. Ospina is out rapidly to clear on the edge of the area, after the ball had bounced awkwardly high, and the players collide. Both now need treatment. Martino appeals for something, just for the sake of it.
51 min: Pastore looks high and diagonally for Aguero, left to right, and Murillo contorts himself into a bicycle shape to rather awkwardly get the ball away. If he hadn’t, Aguero was through.
49 min: Otamendi goes up high – very high – for a challenge on halfway and lands awkwardly enough for the physio to pay him some attention.
Updated
48 min: Zabaleta is fouled by Ibarbo on the right byline, halfway towards goal. The free kick is cleared.
46 min: Pastore looks to feed a pass through to Messi, but Zapata – I think – is in attendance.
Peeeeeeeeep! The second half is underway
This time Colombia, luxuriating in getting a kick, do the honours. They made the Argentinians, who came out first, wait out on the pitch for quite a while.
Jonathan Morgan has this to say about the officials. Do you agree?
“Usually I would say referees have a hard job, and certainly today’s match isn’t the easiest to officiate, but have to think the referee has contributed to that rather than calmed it. Also have to say general standard of refereeing at this tournament has been both poor and erratic.”
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Is this all an elaborate rope-a-dope?
#Col hanging on, which could be key: #Arg tired significantly in latter stages of all three of their group games.
— Rupert Fryer (@Rupert_Fryer) June 27, 2015
@NickAmes82 Colombia scarf for Argentine Pekerman? There's backing your team, then there's ... that #allmancinisfault pic.twitter.com/0ePthfC7f4
— Euan McTear (@emctear) June 27, 2015
Keep those emails coming. Tell us about your evening.
Robert Stuart is disappointed: “I know Messi and Co. have played some pretty decent football but Colombia’s performance has been depressingly anaemic. Nonexistent in midfield- for a team with so many players beyond James I’ve been really disappointed.”
Colombia’s players harangue the referee, I think for a foul that Cuadrado had claimed, as the players file off. But they’d probably be better off keeping quiet as they really should be behind here. Argentina flew out of the traps, Di Maria orchestrating things from his left-sided perch, and Pekerman’s side – which looked lightweight in midfield from the off – were exposed time and again. The clearest chance came when Ospina made that superb double save from Aguero and Messi – the second was genuinely world class – but Argentina had other moments too and will feel they should have taken advantage. Colombia improved slightly after the early introduction of Edwin Cardona to steel things up in the middle, and the game degenerated rather into a morass of rotational fouling, but they will need to play far, far better if they are not to be picked off here eventually.
Half-time: Argentina 0-0 Colombia
Will Martino’s men regret this?
45 min: One minute of stoppage time is signalled, when there should be about eight.
45 min: Gene Salorio writes – “Referee seems tetchy and erratic. Uruguay-Colombia would have had more blows than a mixed martial arts bout.”
44 min: Messi is fouled by Murillo and takes a quick free-kick down the inside left to Pastore. Ospina is out to block but cannot gather and for a moment the ball spins free with the goal vacant, but he recovers in time.
43 min: Zuniga makes some good headway for Colombia down the right and seems to be bundled over by Biglia as he gets within 10 yards of Argentina’s area, but the referee isn’t interested. A shame, as it would have been Colombia’s first remotely threatening situation of the half.
41 min: Oh, another yellow card. This time Cuadrado, clearly desperate for a first mention here, has no compunction about blocking Di Maria from running on to a return ball.
39 min: Cardona’s introduction might just have made a bit of a difference, you know. Colombia are very visibly sitting off now, keeping nine and sometimes ten outfielders behind the ball when Argentina gain possession, and they aren’t quite finding the spaces they were......but then, of course, just as I say that some wonderful Messi skill makes space for Di Maria down the left and his teasing low ball is thudded straight at his own goalkeeper by Zapata, with Aguero lurking! Shortly afterwards Biglia scuffs wide from a decent position at the edge of the box.
Updated
37 min: Arias is the latest yellow-cardee, and the latest to receive said punishment for fouling Messi. Five yellows now and this game feels at times like a tinderbox.
36 min: Colombia have an attack! Zuniga plays Martinez down towards the byline, but he can’t manufacture enough space to put a cross in.
35 min: Tackles flying in now, and after two slightly dubious Colombian attempts it is left to Mascherano to send James flying with a ridiculously late challenge near the centre circle. He, like several others already, is rightly booked.
33 min: Pastore glides promisingly through the middle but passes to nobody. But then Arias misplaces a pass of his own and the ball ends up with Messi, who is clipped by the already-booked Mejia. He gets a stern, presumably final, warning – I’ve seen players pick up second yellows for less.
31 min: Ibarbo tries to take on Mascherano, who does leave his foot in rather late there. Words are said by all parties. But it calms down, Colombia have a throw-in and then lose the ball again.
29 min: We’ll have to let the impact of Colombia’s change sink in, but we’re 29 minutes in and they have so far strung nothing together. And “nothing” is generous.
26 min: What a double save from Ospina! Pastore does well down the right and slides the ball to Aguero at the near post. Ospina, diving the other way, saves the striker’s sliding, jabbed effort with his foot but it loops up and Messi is rushing in! It must be a goal....but no – Messi powers his header towards the net, just eight yards out, but Ospina, recovering so quickly, springs up to his right and somehow pushes it over! Petr who?
Updated
25 min: Colombia make a big early change! Teo Gutierrez, the striker, comes off having barely had a touch – Edwin Cardona, a tough, six-foot central midfielder, comes on! Pekerman has reacted swiftly the the fact that they’ve been overrun here early on.
24 min: Di Maria goes at Zzzzzzzzz......ok, he goes at Zuniga for the Nth time and claims a free kick when the right-back seems to leave out an arm. He tumbles but gains nothing. Sergio Aguero almost gains something moments later though! Messi finds Di Maria, who chips in a lovely ball around 10 yards out and it’s headed over.
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22 min: Now Mejias is pulled up for what was a “professional”-looking foul on Messi, who had beaten him. The Argentinians surround the Mexican referee, who books Mejias. Again, he got that right.
21 min: Argentina scream for a penalty! Di Maria wins another corner on the left, takes it, and the ball rebounds off Messi at the back post to Aguero, who is taken out by Mejia. Messi then seems to have the goal at his mercy but Arias does just enough. Aguero is furious and claims Mejia fouled him, but Mejia got a good chunk of ball first and the decision looks correct this time. As does the subsequent decision to book Aguero for his rage.
Updated
19 min: Jose Pekerman is wrapped up nice and warm, at least. Fun fact: Pekerman and Christopher Walken have never been seen in the same room.
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18 min: Colombia just need to calm things down here, stick a few feet in, string a pass or two about if they can. They’re barely involved.
17 min: Now Messi tucks back inside Zapata, inside the D, and the Colombia dangles out a leg. Messi, who rarely goes over, goes over and there was obvious contact. But once again, nothing is given.
15 min: Colombia are being exposed far too easily here. Looking at the midfield it’s really only Mejia who has much defensive inclination. Another break leads to a foul by Arias on the right, and Messi stands over the free kick. It’s down towards the byline. Decent delivery, and Otamendi goes to ground under Mejia’s attention, but again the referee has little interest and he is correct in that.
13 min: Di Maria swerves one with the outside left foot from a good 30 yards, but it swishes into the midriff of soon-to-be-ex-Arsenal-goalkeeper David Ospina.
12 min: Early frustrations from James Rodriguez? He’s been booked after fouling Di Maria with a common-or-garden enough bit of nibbling and then chatting back after the free kick was given.
12 min: Then Murillo neatly intercepts a Zabaleta cross. It’s all Argentina so far – a wonderfully fast, purposeful start.
10 min: Di Maria gets another run on Zuniga after a quick switch from Biglia, but this time the right-back wins out. I promise there are other players in this game.....including Lionel Messi, who breaks down the middle with his first real involvement and finds, yes, Di Maria, whose return ball into the area is cut out. Good area, that.
9 min: Olly West, who lives in Bogota, asks – “What is with the South American aversion to extra time? It’s pathetic for professionals to be sent straight to penalties like they were 10 year olds. But it’s the same in the Colombian domestic game, and last year during the World Cup the commentators were proclaiming the unfairness of some games going to extra time as “players looked tired”. Last week the team I play sub goalie for (it’s a good position for a hangover) was in a very exciting final we drew 1-1 only to be unceremoniously knocked out on penalties when we would have definitely been stronger over 120 minutes. It’s as though they think playing with a bit of cramp is somehow LESS of a lottery than penalties for gawd sake!! What’s going on?”
I’m told by greater authorities than I that television channels’ demands are a factor.
8 min: Pastore looks to return the favour to Di Maria but his reverse patch is off beam. Good start by Argentina though, this.
7 min: Di Maria is heavily involved early on and has a little run at Zuniga now, but runs out of space. Bright start from him down that left side though....and then there’s a chance, as he whips in a superb low ball from that same side and Pastore’s close-range jab is deflected just wide! From Di Maria’s outswinging left-sided corner, Rojo heads over when he should do better. He had got clear of his man.
5 min: Aguero receives a Rojo throw and goes down rather easily under a challenge from Zapata – I think – just outside the ‘D’. Nothing doing.
3 min: Jackson Martinez is full of running early on and jabs a ball out of play down near the right-hand corner flag. It will be interesting to see how he and Teo Gutierrez combine tonight – you’d think their combined movement will be of particular assistance to James out there.
2 min: Then there’s an early let-him-know you’re there challenge from Zabaleta on Victor Ibarbo, the pacy Colombian forward.
1 min: Argentina pop it about early on, after Di Maria hassles Zuniga to win the ball back on their left.
Peeeeeeeeeep!! Argentina get us going
They are playing from right to left, as we watch.
No extra-time tonight, I am reminded – straight to penalties if we are tied after 90. So stay close.
Anyway – the teams are out! The atmosphere sounds and looks splendid. They stand, now, for the anthem and it’s Colombia first.
That might just have been wishful thinking – the normal time bit, not the Argentina bit.
Gut instincts then, guys? What are all those bacteria saying to you? Mine are coming out with something distinctly like “It’ll be a game of decent tempo but Argentina look more coherent and more settled than a reshuffled Colombia and will win in 90 minutes”.
Updated
One game has already gone the distance tonight, and an absolute corker it was too. Germany have beaten France on penalties in the quarter-finals of the Women’s World Cup after a 1-1 draw (*rolls eyes indulgently*... “Germans – penalties – I know!”), although they were lucky to do so, as the French dominated and missed some wonderful chances.
If this live blog isn’t informative enough, I expect Jonawils’ on-location Twitter feed will make a handy cheat sheet.
Mejia, as expected, starts instead of suspended Carlos Sanchez - he successfully marked Messi in WC qualifier two years ago.
— Jonathan Wilson (@jonawils) June 26, 2015
Do you know where I’d be right now if I had a proper job and, consequently, a social life if I wanted to catch the big game and a couple of beers with some mates? I’d have headed over to Seven Sisters Market in north London, only a stone’s throw from where this MBM is being spluttered out. It’s a Colombian enclave, just a mile from White Hart Lane, full of little Colombian cafes and bars and shops and other curiosities crammed into this rabbit warren of an indoor market just by the tube station. And when Colombia play, it comes alive! I went there to watch their game with Brazil during the World Cup and, even though they lost, the experience was quite something. A sea of yellow, everywhere. Noise, colour, projectile beer, the lot. It’ll be just like that tonight, I’m sure, so if you’re looking for one last adventure on the way home*....
*Keep checking in here throughout though. Obviously.
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Tonight’s arena:
Viña del Mar, hill overlooking Sausalito, scene for Argentina-Colombia pic.twitter.com/hB77yFJrPi
— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) June 26, 2015
Chew on that, kids. Or just email/tweet. We all need a friend at this hour.
Tonight's teams
Argentina: Romero; Zabaleta, Garay, Otamendi, Rojo; Pastore, Mascherano, Biglia; Messi, Agüero, Di María.
Colombia: Ospina; Zúñiga, Zapata, Murillo, Arias; Cuadrado, Mejía, Ibarbo, James; Jackson, Gutiérrez.
There you have it. Jackson Martinez is IN! Falcao is OUT!
Hearing that Radamel Falcao has indeed been dropped
I’ll get the teams in full to you as soon as possible...
And here is some excellence from Dr Jonathan Wilson on the trials of James Rodriguez.
Rodríguez was visibly irritated after the defeat to Venezuela, but by the following day he was at his charming best. “This will help the team wake up and be more careful in our next games,” he said, before calling for unity. It is easy, perhaps, to make such an appeal before a game against Brazil. Colombia won that, but after the draw with Peru, the frustration was back and reflected in a bleak sense of realism. “We played badly again,” he said. “When you lose you have to be self-critical and we have to know that if nothing happens we have to take responsibility.”
There are some articles you must read while waiting for this one. First, here is a real treat from my colleague, and the Guardian’s resident Colombian, Euclides Montes. He has waxed lyrically about a Golden Goal from Faustino Asprilla in a very famous previous meeting between these two teams.
The way his speedy sprint suddenly came to an almost slow-mo crawl, the way he turned his body to lift the ball over the Argentinian goalkeeper, the weight of the curl, the arc the ball took through the air, the celebratory scrum that just seemed to keep growing on the side of the pitch - these are all elements that make that goal stand out. It was a beautiful piece of skill that flattered to deceive in its simplicity.
Two other quarter-finals have already taken place. I say “taken place”, because if we didn’t MBM them they actually didn’t happen, but had they happened they would have finished Bolivia 1-3 Peru and Chile 1-0 Uruguay.
And if Chile v Uruguay had happened, Gonzalo Jara would have done something rather distasteful.
Anyway, Chile and Peru would have been drawn against each other in the semi-finals in these eventualities, which means tonight’s victor plays Brazil or Paraguay.
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Good evening
Scratch that, it’ll be morning here when we get going and some of you might even be chewing over some brunch. But this preamble comes to you at something close to what might once have been called “chucking out time” here in London, so a good evening it must be.
And what an evening we have in store! It’s Argentina v Colombia for a place in the Copa America semi-finals, and it couldn’t be set up more tantalisingly.
To recap, Argentina got this far by winning group B with the proverbial Minimum Of Fuss. They began by drawing against Paraguay, but then a lot of people do that; then a Sergio Aguero header saw off their nearest and dearest neighbours, Uruguay; next, Gonzalo Higuain’s early goal was enough to beat Caribbean special guests Jamaica. Has it been convincing? Not really, and we’re yet to see very much of Lionel Messi (although in one of the first things ever to have happened on a football pitch he’s been in on some hot selfie action), but it’s been comfortable enough and you sense that Gerardo Martino’s side is – much as under Alejandro Sabella at the World Cup last year – equipped with the matchwinners to go a long way even if it doesn’t really sparkle.
And what of the Colombians? All counter-attacking verve and James Rodriguez and gung-ho intent and a bit more James Rodriguez last summer, they haven’t found their rhythm yet. They have, though, beaten Brazil 1-0 – which was the decisive result for them as, losing 1-0 to Venezuela and drawing 0-0 with Peru, they completely failed to shine otherwise. They went through as the second-best of the three third-placed teams, and can probably count themselves a bit lucky.
The big question tonight will be “Does Rademel Falcao play?” Many would, reluctantly, rather that he didn’t. The Colombia captain has completely failed to get into gear so far, in common with his domestic season, and seems to have been cramping their speedy, rapier-sharp style somewhat – perhaps restricting James from feeding through some of his deft little through balls, too. Could – should – we see Carlos Bacca up top?
Join me for this one (kick-off: 00.30 UK time. Venue: Vina del Mar) anyway, as it should be a belter, and don’t be a stranger either. If you’ve got a hot take on the evening’s action from the vantage point of your local kebab van, the world needs to know.
Nick Ames will be with you shortly for all the buildup.
