Copa America: Costa Rica score two minutes in vs. Colombia (Video)

Costa Rica got off to a great start against Colombia in their final Copa America group stage game.

If the USMNT want to go through to the Copa America knockout stage as Group A winners, they needed Costa Rica to beat Colombia. While there were a lot of Colombia fans, everyone else was an honorary Costa Rica fan, and they cheered loudly when Johan Venegas gave Costa Rica the lead just two minutes in:

"Johan Venegas gave Costa Rica a brief, 1-0 lead with this stunner… #COLvCRC #MyCopaColors https://t.co/FAeUkpIF0L— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 12, 2016"

Believe it or not, that was Costa Rica’s first goal of the tournament. They are a shell of the team that captured fans’ hearts in the World Cup, and that’s why relying on them beating Colombia was a real stretch, but for a moment, this goal gave United States fans a glimmer of hope.

As it turned out, their first goal (and lead) could only be sustained for five minutes, as Frank Fabra evened it up at one. With their spot in the quarterfinals secured, Colombia have started the game with their star player James Rodriguez on the bench, but even without him, they remain a formidable opponent.

In truth, having the USMNT winning their group was always going to be unlikely. They should be glad that they’re in the quarterfinals, and collected two clean sheets in the process. However, there’s still a lot of time to see how this match will play out, and Costa Rica could win this yet.

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