Colombia stun Argentina at Copa America

SALVADOR, Brazil, June 15  — Colombian superstar James Rodriguez set up Roger Martinez’s opening goal in the second half and substitute Duvan Zapata’s goal later guaranteed the victory as Colombia ended their 12-year winless streak against Argentina here at the Arena Fonte Nova on Saturday.

Colombia took the upper hand in the first half while Argentina boosted their offense at the beginning of the second half after Rodrigo de Paul replaced Angel Di Maria during the interval and captain Lionel Messi created several chances to score.

But it was Martinez, who replaced the injured starting forward Luis Muriel in the 14th minute, that broke the deadlock with an outstanding goal and Zapata converted the cross from Jefferson Lerma five minutes after he got onto the pitch in place of captain Radamel Falcao.

Argentina provided a lackluster performance during the whole match although they led Colombia in shots on target and possession.

Argentina were runners-up at the Copa America in 2015 and 2016 when they lost both finals in penalty shootouts to Chile. The Albiceleste will face Paraguay on Wednesday and the group leader Colombia will take on Asian champions Qatar, who are invited to compete in the tournament in Sao Paulo. – XINHUA