Colombia arrives inspired to the Copa América. He accelerated when he wanted and braked when he needed to to overtake Bolivia and beat them 3-0 this Saturday, in the last friendly before the debut in the continental tournament.
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Néstor Lorenzo had warned on Friday that in this match he was going to move the roster. And the main changes were from midfield to the back: three of the defense four (Mina, Cuesta and Machado for Sánchez, Lucumí and Mojica) and one of the recovery midfielders (Ríchard Ríos for Mateus Uribe) changed. Going forward, he exchanged striker for striker, Jhon Córdoba for Rafael Santos Borré.
With the attacking formula almost intact, there was a player who wanted to show that he arrived at the Copa América in one piece and who wanted to get rid of a streak that he did not like, that of not being able to score a goal. That was Luis Díaz, who, since his magical night with a double against Brazil, in November, was blank with the National Team.
The Liverpool player was in all of them. Colombia’s first goal was born from a play of his, after five minutes. He started with all his strength and began to look for space in the center to finish. He took out three players on the way to the goal and Robson Matheus managed to take the ball away from him, but from the rebound, Jhon Arias scored a goal almost identical to last Saturday’s against the United States, hard and high.
The 2-0 also came from the feet of Díaz, after they opened the game to the left. He began to hook to open space and, not having a way to finish, he had the wisdom to touch the center, where two players arrived, James Rodríguez and Jhon Córdoba. It was the forward who had time to stop, turn and finish, at 25.
The award for Luis Díaz: the goal he had been looking for for a long time
The prize and the end of Díaz’s drought with the yellow shirt came at 41, when Deiver Machado received a change of front and played so that the guajiro, now, took advantage of all the weaknesses of the Bolivian defense and beat goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra. There were 361 minutes without scoring.
And Bolivia? Very, very little in the first stage. He only scared with a free kick from Saucedo that Camilo Vargas put his fists into to avoid the discount. For the rest, a flat team, which did not defend well and attacked very little.
The 3-0 score in the first half gave the Colombian coach options to do more tests. Miguel Borja had his first minutes in the Lorenzo era, instead of Córdoba, and Yaser Asprilla came in for Arias, who was hit hard and they preferred to take care of him.
In the second stage, Colombia slowed down too much and some players showed fatigue, starting with James Rodríguez, who did not shine in his particular celebration. Before the game they gave him a t-shirt and recognition of his 100th game.
The fight that left both teams with ten players
And when the game was already asking for another rhythm and other variants, there was an inconsiderate tackle by Héctor Cuéllar against Luis Díaz. There a brawl broke out that left two expelled, the Bolivian César Menacho and the Colombian Daniel Muñoz. Thus, from the 68th minute, both teams were left with ten. The blow was so hard that Lorenzo, who rarely gestures, protested vehemently.
The last minutes served more for spontaneous people to rush onto the field to look for James to hug him and for Lorenzo to continue saving players for the Cup debut, starting with Díaz, who left the field in the 77th minute. He also left James, and his replacement, Luis Sinisterra, also debuted it with a strong kick.
Colombia did not need to press the accelerator to confirm its enormous superiority against a Bolivian team that, surely, must have its fans very worried ahead of the Copa América. Victory helps, the undefeated grows, but the real test for the National Team begins on June 24.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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