The Colombian team culminated on the afternoon of Saturday, June 15, its preparation for the Copa América 2024, with a comprehensive 3-0 victory against its counterpart from Bolivia. Those led by Néstor Lorenzo were vastly superior to the rival from the opening whistle, despite the fact that the Tricolor started with several important innovations compared to the game against the United States the previous week that ended with a 5-1 win.
Although there were names that were repeated in the starting eleven such as Camilo Vargas, Daniel Muñoz, James Rodríguez (who played his 100th game with the national team), Luis Díaz or Jhon Arias, Others like Yerry Mina, Carlos Cuesta, Deiver Machado or Jhon Córdoba had their opportunity to add minutes before the continental competition begins on June 20.
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During the first half, the play on the wings stood out especially, with Muñoz and Machado constantly going up to generate an advantage and supporting the cuts inside the area by Díaz and Arias, which left the Bolivian team at an obvious disadvantage, unable to respond to the superiority technique from Colombia. Additionally, Jhon Córdoba showed great mobility within the area, proving to be as useful in supporting the Tricolor’s offensive game as he was in creating his own goal situations.
Jhon Arias opened the scoring at 4 minutes, taking advantage of a rebound in the area after an excellent individual play by Luis Díaz. The Liverpool winger also participated in the second goal at 25 minutes, when in another individual play he beat his marker and set up Jhon Córdoba to make it 2-0. In the 41st minute the final score came 3-0 when Díaz, assisted by Deiver Machado, overcame the Bolivian defense with another great individual play and scored the last goal of the match.
In the complementary part, Colombia lowered the intensity and Lorenzo took the opportunity to make some variations, But in the 67th minute the situation took a turn when the Bolivian Héctor Cuellar gave Díaz a dangerous sweep from behind, which could have injured him. The action generated a response from the Colombian players who started a fight with the rival players, to the point that Daniel Muñoz went to blows with several of them. The referee determined the expulsion of the winger at the service of England’s Crystal Palace, as well as Cuellar for the kick and César Menacho for joining the brawl.
The game had no further incidents to highlight, but both the good play exhibited by Colombia – and in particular by Díaz and Arias – and the brawl and Daniel Muñoz’s role in it were the subject of memes and reactions on social networks. Regarding the level of play, the positive feelings that the team had already left in the match against the United States were celebrated, at the same time as the undefeated streak has extended to 23 rounds. Furthermore, the performance of Díaz, Córdoba and Arias was praised by the Colombian bias.
The brawl that occurred with the Bolivian players was also the subject of memes. The majority celebrated Daniel Muñoz’s attitude, going forward to rebuke the rivals for the harsh foul on Díaz. However, there were a few who focused on the attitude that Miguel Angel Borja assumed, asking his teammates to calm down in the midst of the situation. All in all, not even the accounts dedicated to sharing this type of content avoided wondering if Colombia was the favorite to win the next Copa América.
