Ten-man Colombia beat Uruguay 1-0 on Wednesday to reach their first Copa America final in 23 years after a heated semi-final.
A 39th-minute Jefferson Lerma header sealed victory for the Colombians, who will now face holders Argentina in Sunday’s final in Miami.
It was an anarchic semi-final played in front of a packed and passionate crowd which ended with scuffles on the field and fighting in the stands, including several players who had climbed in among supporters amid the flying punches.
Colombia, despite having Daniel Munoz sent off just before the interval and facing plenty of Uruguay pressure, hung on for a famous victory to the delight of their massive following of fans.
Inside the 74,800-capacity Bank of America Stadium, it was like a home game in Bogota with only pockets of Uruguayan supporters breaking up the wall of yellow on all four sides of the venue.
Not surprisingly in such an atmosphere, Colombia started strongly with their livewire Liverpool winger Luis Diaz doing well to wriggle some space for a cross on the left, finding Daniel Munoz at the back post but the full-back’s header was off target.
Uruguay were, as always, a threat on the counter-attack, and their Liverpool star, Darwin Nunez, was close to finishing off one break when Rodrigo Bentancur found him with a clever pass but the forward poked his shot wide.
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