The Copa America semi-finals are finally here with the final on Saturday signaling the end of another exciting edition of the tournament. The two games of this round promise to be exciting matches with a rematch of the previous Copa America final and a rivalry match.
After these two matches, there will be the final, of course, as well as a third place match for the two losing sides. With the third place match being played on Friday to set the stage for the final on the next day, Saturday.
Brazil VS Peru
A rematch of the 2019 Copa America final as Brazil would play Peru in order to see who would make the finals with the loser relegated to the third place match. Brazil has looked like the team of the tournament with a strong backline and an even more potent attack. Peru has been unconvincing for most of the tournament as they are clearly missing that spark that propelled them to the final two years ago.
As they have done throughout the tournament, Brazil started the half the better of the two teams and looked to get an early goal. Brazil would finally find their goal around the 35th minute mark as Lucas Paquetá would finish off an incredible move by Neymar to score in back to back games. The half would end with Brazil up 1-0 with Peru seemingly unable to get into the match.
In a change of fortunes, Peru would open up the half more adventurous with two great chances being produced as they began to feel the urgency. Brazil would be content to just sit back and invite Peru to attack, trusting in their backline and goalkeeper to carry them through. This paid off as Brazil was able to win 1-0 moving to the finals while Peru will play in the third place match.
Argentina VS Colombia
After Brazil’s win, Argentina would take on Colombia with the winner playing Brazil in the final and the loser playing Peru in the third place match. Argentina has been the other team of the tournament as it feels like this is Lionel Messi’s best Argentina team with everything seemingly falling into place for the superstar to win his first international trophy. Colombia has had some good moments at the tournament but it seems that their chances depend on whether their strikers can score as they have been the weakest link for the team.
Within the opening seven minutes, Argentina would get their goal with Lautaro Martinez sweeping in Messi’s pass as Argentina seemed in total control of the match. After the goal, Colombia grew more and more into the game with them pinning back Argentina but unable to connect on some good chances. The half would ultimately end 1-0 for Argentina but Colombia surely liked their chances for the second half.
Colombia came out of the half with that urgency that the moment demanded as they got into better and better positions. All that pressure from Colombia would finally pay off with Luis Díaz scoring from an unbelievable angle to tie the game. Neither team would find that winner meaning that penalties beckoned.
There was plenty of trash talking with these penalties, enough to rival any NBA game, as Emiliano Martínez of Argentina was trying to psych out all the Colombian players. After both teams made their first penalty and missed their second, Yerry Mina of Colombia would miss his as Leandro Paredes put his away to give Argentina the lead. Both teams again would make their next one but Edwin Cardona would have his saved, sending Argentina to the final for a mouth watering matchup between them and Brazil.
Feature Image: AP
