A thrilling finish to a match fought tooth and nail. Colombia advance to face the winner of Saturday’s match between Mexico and Chile. Listen to the radio call of the shootout on Colombia’s Caracol Radio here – or check out a full match report below.
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Colombia win 4-2 on penalties!
Peru miss! Cueva sends it over the crossbar and Colombia win 4-2 on penalties to advance to their first Copa América semi-final since 2004!
Christian Cueva misses the final spot kick as Colombia defeat Peru, 4-2 on penalties. #PERvCOL #CopaAmerica https://t.co/eJnjx3Ebdv
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 18, 2016
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Colombia score! Surely Los Cafeteros are in control now. Perez pounds it home! 4-2
#PERvCOL: El penal de Pérez que le dio a Colombia su pase a semifinales. #CopaAmerica https://t.co/1AmtIuEFai
— Univision Deportes (@UnivisionSports) June 18, 2016
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Peru miss! Trauco is denied by David Ospina, whose kick save gives Colombia the edge! 3-2
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Colombia score! Moreno answers with another right down the middle. 3-2
Peru score! Tapia pounds it straight down the middle. 2-2
Colombia score! Cuadrado makes it look easy. 2-1
Peru score! Diaz sends Ospina the wrong way and deposits it into the top-left corner. 1-1
Colombia score! James Rodriguez slots it home to the keeper’s left. 1-0
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Here we go then. Colombia to take first as James approaches the spot ...
The match goes to penalties!
And there’s the whistle! A quick break and then Peru and Colombia will have a shootout to determine which team advances to the semi-finals and which boards a plane back home.
90 min+2: Peru win a corner. Cueva to take it. Ramos gets a head on it and it’s saved by the fingertips of Ospina! A blistering header with pace but the Arsenal keeper makes a tournament-saving stop!
FT: Peru 0, Colombia 0. We're headed to a penalty shootout thanks to this clutch save from Ospina on Ramos. #PERvCOL https://t.co/ARGPwvra7E
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 18, 2016
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90 min: Indeed, Diaz is being stretchered off and Frank Fabra is coming on. Three minutes of stoppage time announced, though expect a few more seconds due to time it took to remove Fabra from the field.
89 min: Diaz down. Looks injured. Colombia may need to use their final sub here.
85 min: Benevente goes down on the edge of the penalty area on an apparent foul by Diaz, who is on a yellow, but the referee gives a goal kick. That could have crucial. Both teams really going for it now, clearly not wanting to go to penalties.
82 min: Colombia win a corner, James takes it quickly. It’s played short and immediately sent into traffic in the area, but cleared harmlessly by Peru.
81 min: Two more subs on top of one another. For Colombia, Perez enters for Torres. For Peru, Benavente replaces Polo.
80 min: Another wasted chance by Bacca, whose clumsy touch has stolen more than a few chances from Colombia tonight.
77 min: Peru answers Colombia’s attacking sub with one of their own as Ruidiaz – the cheeky goalscorer in the Brazil game – replaces Flores.
76 min: Colombia makes the first sub of the match for either side as Moreno enters for Cardona.
75 min: Cuadrado surges into the area and finds James but his shot is blocked.
71 min: Diaz is booked for a foul on Vilchez. A golden chance here for Peru just inches outside the area. Flores stands over it, takes it, but it smashes into Colombia’s four-man wall. Just under 20 minutes to full time. Remember: under Copa América rules for the knockout stage, we’d go straight to penalties after 90 minutes if the score remains tied.
66 min: Now Zapata sees yellow for a foul on Guerrero and Peru has a free kick, but it’s easily cleared.
63 min: The besieged Tapia is shown yellow for a foul on James. You read that correctly. The first booking of the match gives Colombia a free kick, but nothing comes from it as the offside flag goes up.
58 min: Aston Villa’s Carlos Sanchez down and being tended to by the medical staff after a collision. “This Peru-Colombia referee reminds me of a substitute teacher,” tweets Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl. Which evokes an amusing image: perhaps Mr Garvey would do a better job?
55 min: Excellent interplay up the right side by Colombia and the ball is swung into the area for Bacca, who can’t put it on target with enough pace. Easy save for the keeper Gallese.
53 min: Bacca rushes into the box and is shouldered down by Tapia. Then it’s Tapia who writhes on the ground in agony – for a fourth time in less than an hour! – though replay indicates it was clear Bacca got the worst of it. How cynical!
52 min: Peru win a free kick on a Cuadrado foul. Cueva takes it but it’s hauled in by Ospina. No serious threats for either side so far despite the attacking verve on both ends.
50 min: Cuadrado ripped down and Colombia will have another free kick, this one from long range. James loops it in but it’s easily wrangled by Gallese.
48 min: Polo threads a through pass into Guerrero but he’s way offside. That’s the third offside flag of the half after none in the first 45 minutes.
46 min: The second half is underway and we’ve got a foul and a free kick nine seconds into the action. James will take it from the right side of the area, a dangerous spot, but it curls sharply into the box directly into the waiting hands of Gallese.
Half-time: Peru 0-0 Colombia
Nineteen fouls, zero cards. That pretty much sums up a foul-filled opening half from East Rutherford. While Colombia has enjoyed the better quality chances, Peru has shown well and are very much in the fight. Plenty more to come after the break.
45 min: Fourth official signals for two minutes of stoppage time.
43 min: Diaz wins a corner for Colombia off of Corzo, but it’s played short and nothing comes of it. A wasted opportunity.
39 min: Nearly a chance there for Colombia as Cuadrado finds Bacca in the area but Bacca mishandles it and is dispossessed. Yes, Colombia have had the better chances – the two that stand out in particular – but otherwise it’s been a quite evenly matched contest. If anything Peru have enjoyed a slight edge by mostly slowing the pace and playing on their terms.
36 min: Tapia is down for a third time tonight after a collision with Diaz near the halfway line. Fortunately, the three-knockdown rule is not in effect for tonight’s match.
34 min: Jeison Murillo is down now with an injury. Enough injuries so far tonight to accommodate an inpatient ward.
32 min: Peru win the first corner of the night. It’s easily cleared and very quickly Colombia are on the counter-attack.
30 min: A half hour in and, incredibly, there’s yet to be a yellow card given in a highly physical match fraught with emotion.
27 min: While Torres is being tended to, reader Adam Preston checks in, via email:
Working next to Avenida Javier Prado, one of Lima’s main transport arteries, I’ll miss the match but be kept abrest of the score through the media of honking car horns and locally flavoured profanities.
26 min: Torres is down after a high-speed collision with Alberto Rodriguez near the top of the area and he’s down and in a lot of pain. He’s being stretchered off by the medical staff. No sign as to whether he will be subbed off.
22 min: James Rodriguez! The Peru defenders keep backing up and backing up as the Real Madrid forward charges down the field with the ball and he takes advantage of the space by uncorking a shot from distance that bends towards the goal but caroms off the right post! Bacca is all over the rebound but can’t put it in. How close that was to Colombia’s opener. A moment of brilliance from the young star.
20 min: Peru on the counter-attack but Guerrero, the most fouled player in the tournament, is fouled by Cuadrado near the touch line. On replay it seems he took a bit of a boot to the face, yet the referee refrains from going to his book.
19 min: Another attack by Colombia as Cuadrado, James and Bacca each get touches but they can’t put a shot on target before Cuadrado is dispossessed. Solid defensive effort by Peru.
18 min: Colombia win a free kick as a gaggle of players from both sides crowd the referee. That’s the 10th foul whistled against Peru already. Loustau may need to think about taking a firmer grip on this game before tempers boil over.
17 min: Cuadrado surges down the right flank and looks to cross but he’s hacked down by a defender. Appeals for a foul but the assistant referee immediately instructs him to get up. A rough and tumble start no doubt.
14 min: Colombia win a free kick on yet another reckless challenge. Cuadrado to take it. It’s played short and after a series of passes forward Colombia has two shots from outside the area and both are blocked by fully extended Peru defenders.
9 min: A half-chance for Peru as Flores manages to head in the general vicinity of the target, but it’s off the mark.
7 min: The Argentine referee Patricio Loustau will clearly have his hands full tonight. Some very overzealous challenges early on tonight.
3 min: Bacca dribbles into the area all the way down to the goal line and gets off a tightly angled shot and Gallese makes the save! Initially appears to be a corner for Colombia, but instead it’s a goal kick. Los Cafeteros have struck early and often in this tournament.
1 min: And we’re off! Colombia in all-white kits attacking left to right, Peru in all-red strips going the other way.
Anthem time in East Rutherford. Peru first, Colombia second. The teams are on the field and we should be underway shortly. An electric atmosphere in a completely packed stadium!
#PERvCOL: Se entona el Himno Nacional de Perú en @MLStadium. #UDCentenario #CopaAmerica pic.twitter.com/1GZjDFPdzX
— Univision Deportes (@UnivisionSports) June 18, 2016
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Not much longer now. Some quick notes as kickoff draws near:
- This is the 53rd meeting between these nations – Colombia leads with 20 wins, 15 losses and 17 draws – but the scoring has been even with each having scored 59 goals. Their last meeting was a 2018 World Cup qualifier in October, a 2-0 win for Colombia on goals from Teofilo Gutierresz and Edwin Cardona.
- Colombia have scored more first-half goals than any team in the tournament (five), but they’ve mustered only one after half-time.
- Peru’s Paolo Guerrero suffered the most fouls of any player during the group stage (12). He became his country’s all-time leading goalscorer with his 27th international goal against Haiti and has won the Golden Boot at the last two Copa America tournaments.
The teams
Here’s a look at tonight’s teams.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to tonight’s improbable Copa América last eight match between Peru and Colombia at MetLife Stadium. This time last week, many observers had believed tonight’s quarter-final would feature Brazil and the United States. But best laid plans and all that. Now a sellout crowd of 82,556 is expected to watch these two sides vie for a place in the semis. Kickoff is just over 20 minutes away, so we’ll have the team information to you shortly.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why Peru are conjuring images of 1975:
The work-rate from the young, energetic core has helped propel Peru so far, but the principal shining moments have come from two experienced players who bring as much quality to the squad as they do leadership. Before the tournament started Christian Cueva, the attacking midfielder who plays like he has three lungs, was highlighted as one to watch: his ability to change direction should be studied for research. But all eyes are on the dramatically skillful Paolo Guerrero, Copa América’s leading scorer in the last two tournaments. The captain has the fearlessness of Atahualpa, spearheading the line like a Peruvian Gerd Müller. His goal against Haiti cemented his place in history, as he surpassed Cubillas to become the nation’s all-time leading scorer with 27.
So with Brazil vanquished comes the the question: how will Peru do on Friday against the supremely athletic Colombia? José Pekerman is one of the smartest managers in world football, and controlling James Rodriguez and Juan Cuadrado will be no easy task. And David Ospina may play Robin to Peter Cech’s Batman for Arsenal but for his country no one commands more presence than the 27-year old stopper from Medellin. The ex-Atletico Nacional player has only conceded one goal in 180 minutes of play for his country.
History, however, is on Peru’s side. In 2011’s Copa América, the nations met in the quarter-finals and last year they were in the same group. Los Cafeteros failed to win either game. But that was then and this is now, and the romanticism that comes with the knockout stages paints a simple picture: how we got here means nothing, everyone is blessed with a clean slate.
