Predictions & Livescore Copa America Semi-Finals - Uruguay vs Colombia

Copa America - Uruguay vs Colombia
Match Time: 10-07-2024 08:00 Wednesday (GMT+8)
Football Livescore | Match Prediction & Tips
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Uruguay

Enhancing their reputation as one of the meanest defences South America has to offer, Uruguay kept Brazil off the scoresheet for 120 minutes of their quarter-final encounter even after suffering a pair of devastating blows at the back,

In spite of Ronald Araujo's first-half injury and Nahitan Nandez's second-half red card, Bielsa's men held out for a 12-yard shootout, where Eder Militao's effort was kept out by Sergio Rochet and Juventus new boy Douglas Luiz failed to find the mark.

While Uruguay stalwart Jose Gimenez could not beat Alisson Becker, his blushes were spared by Federico Valverde, Rodrigo Bentancur, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and finally Manuel Ugarte, as Uruguay ended their 13-year exile from the semi-finals of the Copa America.

Not since winning their 15th and most recent title in the 2011 edition have La Celeste been present in the final four - going out in the quarter-finals in three of the last four editions - but a Florida sojourn is a highly realistic aim for a side now boasting five wins on the bounce.

In that time, Bielsa's men have conceded just the one goal - to Panama in their opening 3-1 group-stage success - but fresh defensive concerns rearing their ugly heads will undoubtedly threaten their remarkable rearguard record, and indeed their place in the showpiece match.

Colombia

While Uruguay failed to keep Panama off the scoresheet in their Copa opener, a captivating Colombia outfit ran into no such defensive difficulties in their quarter-final showdown, striking five times through five different scorers to storm into the final four.

James Rodriguez, Jhon Cordoba, Luis Diaz, Richard Rios and Miguel Borja all played their direct part in a 5-0 annihilation in Arizona, which saw Nestor Lorenzo's men either match or break multiple national team records, including their biggest-ever margin of victory in a Copa America match.

In addition, the tremendous Tricolour are now on a 27-game unbeaten streak across all tournaments since losing to Argentina in a February 2022 World Cup qualifier, and should they prevail on Wednesday and reach the final, they will set a new record for their longest-ever sequence without defeat.

Colombia's 10-game victorious streak may have been snapped in their final group-stage draw with Brazil, but that 1-1 represents the most minor of minor blots on the Tricolour notebook, and they have now progressed to the semi-finals in three of the last four Copa Americas.

However, not since their inaugural and only triumph at the tournament in 2001 have the 2021 and 2016 bronze medallists progressed to the final, and their last two encounters with Uruguay have both ended level, but their penalty prowess came to the fore when they defeated La Celeste in the Copa quarters three years back.

Prediction: Uruguay 1-2 Colombia