Colombia is headed to the Copa America championship game for the first time in 23 years after a contentious win over Uruguay in which it played the second half a man short and players brawled with fans in the stands following the final whistle.
Jefferson Lerma scored in the 39th minute for a 1-0 win Wednesday night and a matchup with Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina on Sunday.
Uruguay stays in Charlotte to meet Canada in Saturday night’s third-place match.
“Until you overcome your weaknesses you cannot grow,” Colombia coach Nester Lorenzo said through a interpreter. “And when you overcome those obstacles you can grow.”
Daniel Munoz was ejected in first-half stoppage time for an elbow that led to his second yellow card. Despite Uruguay having 61.9 per cent possession, Colombia held on to reach the championship for the first time since winning its only Copa title as host in 2001.
Colombia extended its unbeaten streak to a team record 28 games, one more than from 1992-94 and the longest current streak in men’s international soccer.
“They are very hungry as players and very eager and they really add many elements to their game beyond the tactical side,” Lorenzo said.
Nuñez, Uruguay players enter stands
In a match that included seven yellow cards in addition to the red, players from both teams pushed and shoved in a scrum on the field at the final whistle. Darwin Nunez and about a dozen Uruguay teammates went into the stands as fans brawled.
A video showed Nunez hitting a fan in Colombian team colours.
Defending champion Argentina and Colombia meet at Miami Gardens, Florida, in the tournament finale. The Albiceleste are seeking a record 16th Copa title and are looking to join Spain from 2008-12 as the only countries to win three straight major championships.
Before an overwhelmingly pro-Colombia crowd of 70,644 that filled Bank of America Stadium with yellow jerseys and flags, Uruguay fell behind for the first time in the tournament.
James Rodriguez’s corner kick was headed in from short range by Lerma, who outjumped Jose Maria Gimenez for his third international goal and second of the tournament. Rodriguez has six assists in the tournament — triple the total of any other player.
Rodriguez was given a yellow card in the 55th minute for arguing with Ramos when the referee failed to stop play after Richard Rios was kicked on a shin by Darwin Nunez.
Rios was removed on a stretcher, re-entered the match, then went down in another challenge and was substituted in the 62nd minute. Rodriguez was removed at the same time to keep him eligible for the final.
Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas didn’t have to make his first save until he stopped Nicolas de la Cruz in the 68th minute.
Uruguay unable to muster chances
Luis Suarez, Uruguay’s career leader with 68 goals, entered in the 66th minute and hit the outside of a post with a shot in the 71st. He grasped his head in his hands in disgust.
“The moments in which we could unbalance the game, we did not succeed,” Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa said. “We should have generated more goal situations than we did.”
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Colombia’s Mateus Uribe, another second-half sub, put an open shot wide in the 88th, and Uribe’s open shot in the fourth minute of stoppage time ricocheted off the body of sliding goalkeeper Sergio Rochet and then the crossbar.
Uruguay moved Rochet up to the attacking half of the field in the final minute, desperate for a goal.
The match was played in 90-degree heat on a surface that was converted from artificial turf to grass in the weeks leading up the game.
Players on the NFL’s Carolina Panthers have been outspoken about soccer teams having the luxury of playing on grass on their home field. Players say NFL games on artificial turf leave them more susceptible to injuries.
With two games left, attendance of 1.48 million is just 1,663 shy of the total for the 2016 tournament in the United States,
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