Glendale, Arizona.- James Rodríguez and Colombia’s dream Copa América continues.
The attacking midfielder scored one goal and provided two assists for the Colombian national team, which beat Panama 5-0 on Saturday to advance to the semi-finals of the Copa América.
Jhon Córdoba, Luis Díaz, Richard Ríos and Miguel Borja scored the other goals for Colombia, which for the second edition made its way into the top four of the continental tournament.
In the Arizona desert, Colombia recorded its 27th consecutive match without losing and equaled the longest unbeaten streak in the history of the national team, established three decades ago under coach Francisco Maturana.
Néstor Lorenzo’s team will try to break the record next Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, where they will face the winner of the duel between Uruguay and Brazil, which was played later in Las Vegas.
After leading Colombia to victory in their group ahead of Brazil, James did not slow down at the start of the knockout phase.
Following James’ lead, the first three Colombian goals fell like daggers in the first half.
The 32-year-old star took the corner that Córdoba headed into the back of the net to open the scoring in the eighth minute.
Seven minutes later, James scored with his left foot from the penalty awarded after Panamanian goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera brought down Jhon Arias in the area.
Near the break, James caught the Panamanian defence off guard when he took a free kick in the centre circle and laid the ball off to Díaz for the third.
It was James’ fifth assist in four Cup games.
Ríos scored the fourth goal in the 70th minute with a shot from mid-distance after capitalizing on a ball that was given to him following a foul on Daniel Muñoz in the area that the referee did not sanction in order to give the advantage.
Borja put the final score in stoppage time with a penalty.
Panama had outbursts of rebellion. The Panamanians could have easily reduced the deficit after the 2-0 with a header by Edgar Fariña that hit the post and that goalkeeper Camilo Vargas proceeded to clear. The video images seemed to indicate that the ball could have crossed the line.
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