Uruguay v Colombia: Copa América 2024 semi-final – live
Read Ben McAleer on James Rodriguez
There is something about this semi-final that feels ominous for Uruguay. The main reason to fear a final furlong fall is Rodríguez’s form. The 32-year-old is playing at the same level as he was in 2014, when his World Cup performances resulted in a £63m transfer from Monaco to Real Madrid, making him the fourth most expensive footballer in history after Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suárez.
His performance at the World Cup resulted in the infamous headline: “The name is Bond, James Rodriguez.” And his resurrection this year gives Colombia a good chance of reaching their third Copa América final.
The score before the match is Uruguay 15-1 Colombia. That’s the number of Copa Américas they’ve won, 11 of which came in Uruguay before the competition’s name change in 1975.
Colombia won on home soil in 2001, which was also the last time they reached the final. Uruguay’s most recent victory was in 2011, when Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan shared five goals in the semi-final and final. That is Uruguay’s only final appearance this century.
The point is that this means a lot to both teams – and their fans.
Rob will be here soon. In the meantime, here’s a little beef between Argentina and Drake:
Drake’s run of defeats at the hands of diminutive geniuses continues unabated. Weeks after he was publicly humiliated by the world’s best rapper, the 5ft 5in Kendrick Lamar, he’s been publicly humiliated by the world’s best footballer, the 5ft 7in Lionel Messi.
The Canadian rapper posted on Instagram that he had bet $300,000 – to win $2.88 million – on Les Rouges to beat Argentina in the Copa América semi-finals on Tuesday. Messi then scored his team’s second goal as Argentina defeated Canada 2-0 to advance to the Copa final on Sunday, where they will look to retain the title they won in 2021.
After the match, Argentina’s social media team posted a photo of Messi and co. celebrating their victory with the caption: “Not like us,” the title of a diss track aimed at Drake by Lamar, which has been streamed nearly 500 million times on Spotify and was the culmination of a public feud that was seen by most observers as a 7-0 drubbing by the Californian.
Below you can read the full article: