Colombia defeated Panama 5-0 and qualified as the third semi-finalist in the Copa America, with goals in the first quarter of an hour from the striker who plays in Russian football, Jhon Crdoba and from one of the stars of the contest James Rodrguez from a penalty, while increased to five minutes from the initial stage of Luis Daz.
Halfway through the second half, Richard Ros scored the fourth goal and, in added time River Plate forward Miguel Borja declared the final result. With this victory, he entered the top four of the competition, in a match for the quarterfinals of the Copa Amrica United States 2024, which was played at the University of Phoenix stadium, in the state of Arizona.
For the second consecutive tournament Colombia has earned a ticket to be in the semifinals, as in the last edition in Brazil 2021, they lost in this instance on penalties against Argentina, where the history of Emiliano “Dibu” Martnez began to write his story in the execution of penalties.
A play that could have change everything
After a free kick by Eric Davis in the 19th minute, Panamanian defender Roderick Miller gained height and the ball hit the crossbar, then crossed the baseline until hitting the Colombian goalkeeper.
Many thought that the play could have been checked by the VAR, however that was not the case and after many replays, it was unclear if the ball actually cross the goal line in its entirety, leaving doubt on if Panama could have come back in this one or not.
At that point in the game, it was Colombia up 2-0 but Panama never had a clear chance after that. Despite falling in the quarterfinals, those led by Thomas Christiansen made history by qualifying for this phase and earned everyone’s respect. The Canaleros finished in second position in group C with 6 points, only behind Uruguay who gained 9, the United States (3) and Bolivia (0) came after them.