Colombia ‘edge’ Peru, finish 3rd

BRASILIA, Brazil, July 10, (AP): Colombia beat Peru 3-2 on Friday in the third-place match at Copa America after striker Luis Díaz scored a pair of goals, one of them assisted by goalkeeper Camilo Vargas.

Peru opened the scoring at the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia with Yoshimar Yotún in the 28th minute, with an assist from Christian Cueva that allowed him to beat Colombia’s Vargas with a soft lob.

Colombia equalized in the 49th minute after a free kick taken by Juan Guillermo Cuadrado went through the middle of the Peruvian wall and past goalkeeper Pedro Gallese.

Colombia took the lead for the first time in the 66th minute after Vargas kicked the ball above opposite defenders to find Diaz face to face with Peru’s Gallese. The striker calmly hit it with his right foot to make it 2-1. Italian-Peruvian striker Gianluca Lapadula leveled once again in the 82nd minute with a header after a corner. Díaz scored again in added time with a shot from outside the box. The ball deflected on a Peru defender and beat Gallese.

The two goals on Friday illustrated Diaz’s change in his career fortunes. Only years ago he was playing for a team of Indigenous peoples in his native Colombia. The Porto striker is being considered as one of the best players of the current edition of Copa America, with four goals. The striker was born in the city of Barrancas, close to the border with Venezuela.