Read Sportstar's highlights of the Copa America semifinal between Argentina and Colombia being played at the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha in Brasilia, Brazil.
That is all for today!! Thanks for tuning in!! Goodbye and stay safe!!
Argentina has done it, yes it has overcome its Copa America penalty shootout demons and defeated Colombia to advance to the Copa America final against Brazil.
MATCH REPORT: Argentina beats Colombia in shootout to reach Copa America final
After 90 minutes could not separate both the teams, the match went straight to penalties according to rules, which states only the Copa final will have extra time should the need arise.
In what was supposed to be a nervy affair for the Argentines, Emi Martinez, who seemed to be playing classic mind games on the penalty takers, turned hero with three saves to take Argentina through.
Watch: Highlights from the clash between Argentina vs Colombia
ARGENTINA SURPASSES ITS PENALTY SHOOTOUT DEMONS!! IT WILL PLAY THE FINAL AGAINST BRAZIL ON SATURDAY EVENING!!
ARGENTINA 3- COLOMBIA 2: MARTINEZ SAVES CARDONA'S PENALTY!!!
ARGENTINA 3- COLOMBIA 2: Lautaro scores!!
ARGENTINA 2- COLOMBIA 2: Borja scores!!
ARGENTINA 2- COLOMBIA 1: Paredes scores!!
ARGENTINA 1- COLOMBIA 1: Martinez saves Mina's penalty!!
ARGENTINA 1- COLOMBIA 1: De Paul misses!!
ARGENTINA 1- COLOMBIA 1: Martinez saves Sanchez's penalty!!
ARGENTINA 1- COLOMBIA 1: Messi scores!!
ARGENTINA 0- COLOMBIA 1: Cuadrado scores!!!
COLOMBIA WILL TAKE THE FIRST KICK!!
Who will play Brazil in the final?? Immense tension in both camps.
FULL TIME (ARGENTINA 1 COLOMBIA 1)- Match goes to penalties
90+3' Luis Diaz wins a freekick with less than a minute to play. Has to be the last bit of play.
90+1' ARGENTINA BOOKING - Pezzella sees yellow for stopping Diaz in his tracks.
90+1' MESSI HITS THE WALL!!
FOUR ADDED MINUTES!!
90' Huge delay in the free kick!!
88' FOUL' Messi with a wonderful run from his own half as he is finally stopped by Barrios. It is prime Messi territory.
87' BOOKINGS- Guido Rodriguez and Wilmar Barrios sees yellow
86' BOOKING- Edwin Cardona sees yellow. Flurry of yellow cards in the second half.
83' Around seven minutes plus added time left and its difficult to predict what will happen. It is anyone's game as both teams are having short periods of ascendancy.
80' CLOSE- MESSI HITS THE POST!! A prolonged period of pressure by Argentina around Colombia's box. Di Maria threads a wonderful pass to Messi after wriggling away from a couple of Colombia defenders. Messi's left-footed effort hits the post.
78' Penalty shout by Argentina as Davidson Sanchez seemed to pull Otamendi's shirt. There is no VAR check. That is surprising.
77' Messi hits the wall- not one of his better ones.
77' Free kick in a dangerous area for Argentina. Any guesses regarding who is taking it??
76' BOOKING- Munoz sees yellow for his challenge on Messi.
72' BIG CHANCE- HOW HAS ARGENTINA NOT SCORED THERE?? Big mistake by Munoz sends Di Maria away. He goes around Ospina, who was way off his line. He released the ball to Lautaro whose shot was cleared off the line. Di Maria's rebound shot was off target. Big chance that.
70' BOOKING- Montiel is booked for his challenge on Diaz. He is proving to be a nuisance for the Argentine defence.
60' SHOT- Di Maria having a positive impact. He cuts in from the right and curls one towards Ospina. The Colombian keeper gathers without much fuss.
68' Colombia has been the better side in the second half much like most of the first half. Diaz's goal has completely opened this match up. Argentina cannot afford to sit back now. This match has shades of Argentina's world cup qualifying match against Colombia where the latter equalised late to snatch a point.
66' ARGENTINA CHANGE- Angel Di Maria comes on for Nicholas Gonzalez.
63' BOOKING- Miguel Borja goes into the referee's book.
61' GOOOOOAAALLLL!!! DIAZ EQUALISES FOR COLOMBIA!! Its the danger man Diaz who has brought Colombia back into the game. He showed an extremely cool head to lob the ball past Emi Martinez from such an acute angle from the left.
60' COLOMBIA SUB- Miguel Borja replaces Duvan Zapata.
60' The physicality of the first half has extended to the second as loose challenges are flying all around the pitch. The ratio of cards to challenges has been surprisingly low. Referee Velasquez has been fairly lenient in the bookings department.
57' ARGENTINA SUB- Giovanni Lo Celso is replaced by Leandro Paredes.
54' Messi is fouled by Fabra again in the space of a few minutes. Fabra sees a yellow this time.
53' VAR CHECK OVER FOR POTENTIAL PENALTY!! NO PENALTY!! THE BALL STRUCK GUIDO'S CHEST AND NOT HIS HAND!!
51' Chaos inside the Argentina penalty-area. Colombia players crowded the Argentine box as we got to see some pinball football there. Couple of deflected shots and Colombia players demand a penalty. They are claiming the ball struck Guido Rodriguez's hand.
49' There was some heavy breathing in the Argentina camp as Messi was down clutching his ankle after a crunching challenge by Fabra. He is okay for now after being tended to by the medical team. Hopefully, that's all that there is to it.
47' SHOT- The substitutes Cardona and Fabra combining to put Argentina under pressure early in the second half. Fabra's shoots at Martinez with a grounded shot. Its an easy save for Emi.
46' HALF TIME CHANGES- For Argentina Gonzalo Montiel replaces Nahuel Molina. Triple change for Colombia as Frank Fabra, Yimmi Chara and Edwin Cardona replace William Tessilo, Gustavo Cuellar and Rafael Santos Borre.
SECOND HALF BEGINS!!
Argentina may have taken an early lead through Lautaro Martinez but was under pressure throughout the half as Colombia constantly threatened Emi Martinez's goal.
A physical half with lots of unnecessary fouls, Argentina showed tendencies to sitting back to protect the lead at times during the first half.
Important 15 minutes for both managers as the match reaches half time.
Stay tuned for the second half!!!
HALF TIME!! (ARGENTINA 1 COLOMBIA 0)
45+4' SHOT- De Paul with a long-range effort from the right. The shot is nowhere near the goal.
45+4' BOOKING- Cuadrado becomes the first Colombian player to see a yellow.
45+3' There was a nice some Colombian pressure brewing, which started with Cuadrado's lobbed pass to Zapata. The pressure dissipates as Zapata is adjudged offside.
45+1' There was a potential penalty check by VAR in Argentina's favour, which caused a delay in play. Check complete, not a penalty.
FOUR ADDED MINUTES!!
44' SAVE- Argentina almost doubling its lead completely against the run of play. Gonzalez found himself in space form a Messi corner and headed a solid one towards Ospina. However, it was straight at him.
42' With half time on the horizon, Argentina will welcome the break as it would look ti sit and rethink its approach in the second half.
39' It has been quite some time since Argentina has launched an attack of its own. Right now, its the men in yellow with all the attacking threat. The Albiceleste living dangerously.
37' Colombia has hit the woodwork twice in 30 seconds. First, a deflected shot hits the post and goes out for a corner. The resulting corner saw Mina soar high and head the ball towards goal. His effort strikes the woodwork as well.
32' A comedy of errors- Lautaro plays the ball off Munoz and the ball goes out of play. The linesman says its a Colombia throw-in. Scaloni and his men vehemently protest and the referee overturns the linesman's decision. Argentina throw-in.
29' This is turning out to be quite a physical clash: Lautaro vs Mina has already established itself as a battle to look out for. Now Zapata enters the scene with his bulldog-ish approach play.
28' Cuadrado's shot is over the bar. Argentina breathes easy for now.
27' Free kick in a dangerous area- Cuadrado over it.
25' There has been a clash of heads between two Argentina players as both went to head the ball from a Colombia corner. De Paul seems to have handled the ball post the clash. Referee has given a freekick.
23' Currently Colombia showing more attacking teeth than the 13-time champion. Martinez the busiest of the two keepers.
21' BOOKING- Lo Celso becomes the first player to get booked for his clumsy challenge on Barrios.
18' Looks like the match has finally settled after frantic opening minutes. The onus is on the Colombians now. The game is wonderfully poised at the moment.
16' The early goal has spiced up the match. Both teams with a certain intensity in their approach but lots of loose fouls being conceded.
14' A stare down between Lautaro and Mina. The Argentina forward felt he was fouled by the centre-back. Mina wasn't having any of his complaints.
11' Play resumes. Emi looks fine. Match back on. The Colombians looking for an early response.
9' That was a painful one. Martinez and Zapata involved in a clash, where the Argentine keeper came off worse. The medical team is tending to him.
8' SAVE- Cuadrado with almost an immediate response with a powerful shot at Emi Martinez. The Aston Villa keeper saves.
7' GOOAAAALLLLL!!! LAUTARO SCORES, MESSI CREATES!! THE ALBICELESTE TAKE THE LEAD!! It is Lionel Messi at the heart of the move again. He was played a nice ball by Lo Celso through the channel. He took it well, shielded the ball and rolled the ball to Lautaro, who blasted it at Ospina's far post.
4' CLOSE- LIONEL MESSI!! Wow!! The Argentine captain with a sudden burst of pace and showed quick feet to get away from a couple of Colombian defenders. He then found Lautaro's head with a cross. Lautaro's header wasn't very far from goal.
3' A tricky fixture this- on paper, Scaloni's men should outweigh the Colombians but how often does football play out according to the obvious?
1' KICK OFF!!
06:30 am- AND WE ARE UNDERWAY!!!
FORM GUIDE
Argentina: W-W-W-W-D
Colombia: W-L-L-D-W
STAT ATTACK
HERE ARE THE LINEUPS!!
Argentina (4-3-3): Martinez (GK); Molina, Pezella, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Rodriguez, Lo Celso; Messi (C), Martinez, Gonzalez
Subs: Armani (GK), Musso (GK), M. Quarta, Montiel, Li. Martínez, Acuña, Paredes, Palacios, Di María, Gómez, J. Correa, Agüero
Coach: Lionel Scaloni
Colombia (4-4-2): Ospina (GK) (C); Munoz, Mina, Sanchez, Tesillo; Diaz, Cuellar, Barrios, Borre; Zapata, Cuadrado
Subs: Vargas (GK), Quintana (GK), Medina, Murillo, Cuesta, Fabra, Cardona, Pérez, Perlaza, Muriel, Borja, Chará
Coach: Reinaldo Rueda
Match Preview
Argentina will continue to trust that Lionel Messi finds a way to overcome Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina on Tuesday at Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia to return to the Copa America final.
Beat the impressive Ospina and Colombia, and Argentina will take on Brazil in Saturday's decider. The host beat Peru 1-0 on Monday and star Neymar ended a news conference by saying he wanted to face Argentina in the final.
Messi has been in Barcelona form, scoring four goals and giving four assists in one of the best tournament displays of his Argentina career. The Copa America top scorer netted one and assisted his teammates twice in beating Ecuador 3-0 in the quarterfinals.
READ: ' Barcelona-style' Messi driving Argentina at Copa America
Ospina stopped two penalties in the shootout against Uruguay in the quarterfinals, was key in the 0-0 draw in regulation time and plays a pivotal leadership role for a team that has scored only three times in the entire tournament.
Messi is seeking his first major title with Argentina, which has not lifted a trophy since the 1993 Copa America. Colombia's drought is not as long, but its only Copa title was in 2001.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni praised Colombia as “a tough rival," and was wary it will have back Juan Guillermo Cuadrado from a suspension.
“We hope to play the match with the same intensity, the same willpower,” said Scaloni, who has led Argentina on an unbeaten streak of 18 matches.
The coach said later on Monday that defender Cristian Romero is still recovering from an injury, so German Pezzella is likely to start. He still has doubts about his left-back position between Marcos Acuña and Nicolás Tagliafico. There's also a choice to make in midfield between Leandro Paredes and Guido Rodríguez.
“Argentina is a very compact team, very mature," Colombia coach Reinaldo Rueda said. “You need to play with wit, make a lot of effort, to take them off balance.”
Colombia will count on Cuadrado's return. He was suspended against Uruguay.
READ: Neymar wants Brazil to face Argentina in Copa America final
“It isn't only him (Messi), Argentina has many players that could damage in any circumstance,” Cuadrado warned. “We should not pay attention only to Messi. We will play a final against Argentina. We are not giving 100%, we are giving 200%.”
Rueda's main doubt is who Duván Zapata's partner up front will be; Rafael Santos Borré or Luis Muriel?
--Via AP--
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