Colombia already faced Uruguay in the Copa America semi-finals and won, will history repeat itself? Former Colombian player responds

CColombia is preparing to face Uruguay in a difficult match for the semi-finals of the Copa América. Both teams have a great roster and are in good form in the tournament. However, this is not the first time they have faced each other in this stage of the continental competition.

In 1975, Colombia was close to being crowned Copa América champion for the first time but ended up being runner-up to Peru. However, the semi-final clash proved that they deserved the title after beating Uruguay by a huge margin. On that occasion, Colombia won the first leg 3-0 and, although they lost the return leg 1-0, they secured a place in the final.

On that occasion, the Colombian National Team had one of its most memorable generations with Willington Ortiz, Diego Umaña, Pedro Zape, Jairo Arboleda and Eduardo Retat.

What is it like to play against Uruguay in the Copa América semi-final?

The latter was present at the rout and now spoke about his vision for next Wednesday’s match. Retatin a video posted by his son on TikTok, He talks about what that semi-final was like against a team that has historically been characterized by physical and contact play.

Clearly, 1975 gave players more freedom to play off the ball and to play hard on the pitch. However, the result, despite the obstacles, was favourable to the national team.They kicked a lot, we got into fistfights. In addition to their technical ability, they are players who constantly hit.” the former player and coach highlighted.

In this edition of the tournament, which was played without a fixed venue, there was one match at each of the participating teams’ venues. In Bogotá, Colombia won by a score of 1.5, and in Montevideo they scored a goal. At home, the Uruguayans and Colombians also had clashes: “In Montevideo we were not afraid of them and that was an impressive ‘ball game'” he mentions.

With this last, he introduced a piece of advice for current players: “We have to show them that, football-wise, Colombia is a capable team, Don’t fight for the sake of fighting. In football there are times when, if you don’t stop, they kick you out”

“The time has come to show your opponent that you have the technical ability to beat him.” Retat concluded.