Group D of the Copa America 2024 started with Colombia’s victory over Paraguay with a score of 2-1 in Houstonwith two “coffee” scores in a medium that historically is a “guaraní” strength: The aerial game.
The first part was Colombian managementwith a lot of touch on the ball in the opposite field, colorful dribbles by Luis Díaz and the football command of James Rodríguez in the construction of the game.
La Albirroja, for its part, decided to wait with closed lines to try to hit with a counterattack. Néstor Lorenzo’s men managed to advance on the field, but they lacked the last connection on Paraguayan terrain.
However, those led by Daniel Garnero suffered blows on the right ground in the initial stage. After crosses to the far post, Daniel Muñoz at 32′ and Jefferson Lerma (41′) scored with a header to put Colombia ahead before the break.
Not everything was positive for those in the yellow shirt, as central defender Jhon Lucumí was injured in the 25th minute. Disheartened by his early departure, he left the field for Yerry Mina to enter.
For the second half, Colombia maintained its associated game, but became complicated in defense, which was taken advantage of by Paraguay to climb. Despite that, there were no dangerous shots against goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.
Colombia worried Rodrigo Morínigo a couple of times, who saw deflected shots. On the Paraguayan side, his attempts bore fruit minute 69′, when Julio Enciso scored after a center from Ramón Sosa, entered from the bench.
The match became tense and close at the end. Although Paraguay did not show great efficiency, the Colombian errors and nerves left a certain amount of doubt in the result.
A controversy occurred at 84′, when Argentine Darío Herrera took a penalty in favor of Colombia. But, the VAR invited him to review the play and reversed his decisionannouncing over a loudspeaker that “player 25 (Gustavo Velázquez) does not make a foul (against Yerry Mina), my restart is with a bounce to the ground.”
Anyway, The last minutes passed and the final whistle sealed Colombia’s victory. Thus, Group D was opened, awaiting the duel between Brazil and Costa Rica that will close the first date.
