Jhon Cordoba, James Rodríguez and Luis Díaz scored goals during a dominant first half to spark Colombia to a 5-0 win over Panama in the quarterfinals of the Copa America on Saturday.
Colombia – which came into Saturday on a 26-match unbeaten streak – wasted little time on No. 27 when Cordoba’s well-placed header in the eighth minute found the bottom corner of the net following a corner kick from Rodríguez.
Los Cafeteros pushed ahead 2-0 less than 10 minutes later on Rodríguez’s powerful penalty kick.
Colombia was awarded the penalty after Panama goalie Orlando Mosquera tripped up Colombia’s Jhon Arias, who was sprinting to save the ball from going out of bounds near the post.
Colombia made it 3-0 in the 41st minute when Díaz lobbed a shot over Mosquera, who had charged forward during the breakaway. The goal was set up by another good pass from Rodríguez.
Liverpool’s Luis Diaz was among the scorers as Colombia thrashed Panama in Arizona
Colombian forward Jhon Cordoba opened the scoring with a close-range header early on
Veteran playmaker James Rodriguez doubled Colombia’s lead from the penalty spot
Diaz latched onto a perfect Rodriguez pass before chipping the goalkeeper before halftime
Diaz and Colombia will now play the winner of the game between Brazil and Uruguay
Panama had a few decent chances to score in the first half, including a shot that bounced off the post before being swatted out of danger by Colombia goalie Camilo Vargas. But Los Canaleros could not make a dent in the lead.
Colombia scored its fourth goal in the 70th minute when Richard Ríos blasted a long right-footed shot past Mosquera into the bottom left corner of the net. The final goal came in stoppage time when Miguel Borja converted a penalty kick.
Colombia will play in the semifinals on Wednesday in Charlotte, North Carolina, against the winner of Uruguay-Brazil on Saturday.
The heavily-favored Colombians enjoyed a huge home field advantage in front of announced crowd of 39,740 at State Farm Stadium, with most fans donning the team’s bright yellow jerseys.
The stadium’s retractable roof was closed because of temperatures that hovered around 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) outside.
Panama’s unexpected run to the quarterfinals included a 2-1 win over the United States during group play.