Miami is, in practice, a “second home” for the Colombian National Team. In that American city, the team led by Néstor Lorenzo will seek the Copa América title against Argentina this Sunday, who also wants to take over that place thanks to the phenomenon of Lionel Messi.
According to the criteria of
With the globalization of football caused by television, which began in the 1980s, a phenomenon occurred in Miami: it is the third city that has seen the National Team play the most.
Colombia has played 36 matches there. Only two sites have hosted more games: the El Campín stadium in Bogotá, on 76 occasions, and Barranquilla, 61 times (59 in the Roberto Meléndez Metropolitan Stadium and 2 in the old Romelio Martínez).
In fact, the number of matches played by the National Team in Miami far exceeds those played in several Colombian capitals, such as Medellín (9), Cali (6), Pereira (5) or Armenia (4). This count does not include friendly games against clubs, nor those played in nearby towns such as Fort Lauderdale or Tampa.
More than half of those matches were played in a stadium that no longer exists: the Orange Bowl, built in 1937 and demolished in 2008. Colombia played there on 25 occasions, between 1988 and 2007. The first, on May 14, 1988 (0-2).
Marlins Park was built on the site of the Orange Bowl, to host the games of the baseball team of the same name. The national team also played there once, on May 29, 2016, when they beat Haiti 3-1.
Colombia has played ten times in the stadium of the Copa America grand final
The remaining ten matches were played at a stadium that has changed its name seven times and where the Copa América final will be played this Sunday. It was inaugurated in 1987 as Joe Robbie Stadium and since 2016, after an 18-year, $250 million contract, it was renamed HardRock Stadium.
In one of its former names, Pro Player Stadium, it hosted the seventh game of the World Series on October 26, 1997, in which Colombian Édgar Rentería gave the Marlins their first title with a walk-off hit in extra innings.
Of the 36 matches that Colombia played in Miami, it won 22, drew six and lost eight. It scored 56 goals and conceded 32. Curiously, it has only played three official matches in that city, all in the 2000 Gold Cup: it beat Jamaica 1-0, lost 2-0 to Holland and drew 2-2 with the United States, which it eliminated on penalty kicks in the quarter-finals. It is worth remembering that Miami was not among the host cities for the 1994 World Cup.
And of course, there is also a match against Argentina on that list: it was a friendly on June 27, 2004 at the Orange Bowl, before the Copa América in Peru. Colombia, led by Reinaldo Rueda, won 2-0, with goals from Tressor Moreno and Sergio Herrera.
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