A joyful opening to the Copa América Centenario for Colombia ended in worry as a shoulder injury took out star man James Rodríguez. Going up against the United States, the Real Madrid player went down under a challenge that – though it didn’t look particularly violent – caused him a great deal of pain because of the manner in which he fell. He had to be pulled from the game and Univision repeatedly showed a dejected James watching the rest of the game with his arm inside of his shirt. Besides having the honor of being the captain and leader of Los Cafeteros, this tournament held extra significance as James looked to show why Madrid would be foolish to let him go.
As for the game, Colombia remained in control after the injury and cruised to a fairly simple win. Los Cafeteros scored at both ends of the first half to take control of the game. In the eighth minute, a corner kick routine sprung Cristián Zapata open and he powered the shot past Brad Guzan.
The second involved some controversy as many reasonable minds can disagree as to whether or not DeAndre Yedlin should have been called for a handball. James scored from the ensuing penalty kick.
The win makes Colombia, even if James is out, the favorite to win the group. As for the United States, two tricky, but winnable, games against Costa Rica and Paraguay, remain.