Colombia beat Uruguay 1-0 in Wednesday’s Copa America semi-final despite playing the second half with only 10 men to set up a title decider against defending champions Argentina, before the night descended into chaos as players clashed with fans.
After the game, videos showed what appeared to be Uruguay players wading into the stands to exchange blows with Colombia fans as police personnel tried to keep the two sides apart. South American governing body CONMEBOL said it was investigating the incident.
Uruguay’s manager Marcelo Bielsa said he did not see the incident as he had gone to the locker room.
With the majority of the 70,000-plus crowd cheering on Colombia from the start, Jefferson Lerma scored the winner after Uruguay forward Darwin Nunez had missed three good opportunities to put his side ahead.
The Liverpool striker had a great chance in the box in the 17th minute but curled his effort inches wide before a scuffed shot and another curling strike failed to find the target as he sat on his haunches wondering how he had missed.
Uruguay were made to pay for those missed chances when Lerma rose above the defence at a corner and squeezed his header past goalkeeper Sergio Rochet as James Rodriguez claimed his sixth assist of the tournament.
The game took a turn in first-half stoppage time when Colombia right back Daniel Munoz elbowed Manuel Ugarte in the chest when play was stopped and picked up a second booking.
Colombia face Argentina in Florida on Sunday (July 14) while Uruguay stay in Charlotte for the third-place playoff against Canada on Saturday (July 13). It is Uruguay’s best Copa performance since their last title win in 2011.
Argentina are tied with Uruguay on 15 Copa titles and will own the record outright if they beat Colombia at Miami Gardens.
