Colombia out to end awful run against Peru in third-place play-off

Colombia have a miserable recent Copa America record against Peru but are hopeful of ending their 2021 campaign on a high in the third-place play-off.

Los Cafeteros missed out on the final in agonising fashion, losing to Argentina on penalties in the semi-finals after edging past Uruguay by the same method in the previous round.

Meanwhile, Peru went down 1-0 to hosts Brazil, also the only opponents to beat them in the group stage. Los Incas followed that first-round setback by beating Colombia 2-1 in their next match to take a giant stride towards the last eight.

That was a fifth consecutive Copa America meeting between the sides in which Colombia went away without winning. And the defeat threatened to show their campaign in a different light, with prior results against Ecuador (1-0) and Venezuela (0-0) rather less impressive when they lost to Peru and Brazil back to back.

Coach Reinaldo Rueda was encouraged by the draws against Uruguay and Argentina that led to shoot-outs, however. Rueda only returned to the role in January and oversaw a 3-0 defeat of Peru in his first match in World Cup qualifying.

Ahead of the third-place match, in which he will hope to repeat that dominant display and secure Colombia's first Copa America win over Peru on foreign soil, Rueda said: "Everything has been positive. This campaign is not over yet but it invites us to dream, to think that we are on the right path."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Colombia – Yerry Mina

Centre-back Mina has rarely been out of the headlines at this tournament. He celebrated his successful penalty against Uruguay with an eye-catching dance, which was then mocked by Lionel Messi when he missed in the Argentina shoot-out. Mina also scored the decisive own goal when Peru beat Colombia in the first round.

Peru – Gianluca Lapadula

Former Milan forward Lapadula is the man Mina will be tasked with containing. When they last met, the one-time Italy call-up was still waiting on his first Peru goal, attempting two shots in that match and teeing up a further pair of opportunities. Lapadula has since opened his international account, though, with goals against Ecuador and Paraguay en route to the last four.