James Rodríguez guides Colombia to Copa América semi-finals with two assists and a goal in one half

Colombia have convincingly qualified for the semi-finals of the Copa América. The Cafeteros were 5-0 too strong for Panama in the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. James Rodríguez excelled with two assists and a converted penalty. Never before has a player in the Copa América been directly involved in three goals in the first half. Jhon Cordoba, Luis Díaz, Richard Ríos and Miguel Borja completed the party for Colombia, who will face Uruguay or Brazil in the semi-finals.

Colombia opened the score in the eighth minute. James painted a corner kick onto the head of Jhon Cordoba, whose powerful header was unstoppable: 1-0. Panama quickly tried to do something back. José Fajardo was reached in depth, cut past his man and shot over and wide.

After a quarter of an hour, Díaz had a nice through ball to Jhon Arias, who had started on the left side of the field. The Fluminense winger rushed into the sixteen and was taken down by Orlando Mosquera. The Panamanian goalie had to pay for that with a penalty. James took his responsibility and shot hard: 2-0.

Panama was also not always lucky. A sharp free kick ended up with Roderick Miller, who initially beat goalie Camilo Vargas, but was unlucky that his attempt went off the inside of the post and Vargas out of the goalmouth. Panama remained dangerous at times, but it was simply not effective enough.

Five minutes before half-time the final decision was made. Colombia were awarded a free kick, which was quickly taken by James. Díaz was just not offside and finished with a beautiful lob over the helpless Mosquera: 3-0.

In the second half, the game changed little. Panama barked here and there, but did not bite. For example, Fajardo put too much force behind his effort, causing his shot to go over. Eduardo Guerrero was also unable to bring back the tension: his shot went wide of the Colombian goal.

Halfway through the second half, the cafeteros the difference in quality further. A deep ball landed with Daniel Muñoz, who was brought down by José Cordoba in the sixteen. Referee Maurizio Mariani applied the advantage rule and waited to award a penalty. That turned out to be an excellent decision, as Ríos scored wonderfully from about twenty meters with a dry shot into the far corner: 4-0.

Cordoba had a great opportunity to score his second goal of the evening. However, he completely missed the ball, which meant he missed a huge header. Both teams still appeared threatening in front of the goals, but there was no tension anymore and both teams seemed to have had enough. There was still a penalty, after José Cordoba torpedoed ex-PSV player Santiago Arias in the sixteen. The penalty was flawlessly converted by Borja: 5-0.

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