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In the Copa America tournament, the first two quarter-final matches were played. The Colombian national team easily defeated Costa Rica and will seek to win the cup for the second time in a row, while Argentina defeated tournament host Peru with a minimal result. Both teams will face each other in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Colombia - Costa Rica 2 - 0 41' Abel Aguilar 45+2' Tressor Moreno
At the beginning of the match, the Costa Ricans had several opportunities to score - the best of them being a shot by Badillo in the 18th minute, which was saved by goalkeeper Henao. After nine minutes, Moreno took a shot from the penalty area but hit the crossbar.
After some time, the Colombians took the initiative, and they scored the first goal in the 41st minute when Murillo deflected the ball from the right and Aguilar shot accurately from 15 meters.
In added time at the end of the first half, Moreno was brought down in the penalty area, the referee awarded a penalty kick, and the striker took advantage of the opportunity to double the lead.
At the start of the second half, Costa Rica coach Jorge Pinto made three substitutions, but it didn't help as his team failed to create anything dangerous and had to exit the tournament.
Peru - Argentina 0 - 1 60' Carlos Tevez 83' sent off
In the 13th minute, D'Alessandro had the first chance, but his penalty shot was saved by Ibanez. In the 38th minute, the only Peruvian striker Mendoza managed to get past two defenders, but his shot was not very successful. Just three minutes later, the Argentines responded with a dangerous Zanetti shot that flew just wide of the post.
In the second half, Argentina continued to control the game and didn't give Peru a chance to attack. After four minutes, Ibanez saved again, this time from D'Alessandro's shot. Eight minutes later, Figueroa's header hit the crossbar for the Argentines.
Immediately after that episode, coach Marcelo Bielsa sent young forward Carlos Tevez onto the field. It was a crucial decision, as he soon scored a great penalty goal and put his team ahead.
Peru did not give up and nearly equalized in the 64th minute, but Solano's attempt hit the post. Shortly after, Palacio was close to scoring, after receiving a pass from Mendoza, but his shot went just wide. Argentine defender Ayalos received a red card, and the match ended that way.
