Colombia beat Costa Rica 3-1 at Estadio El Campín, and the scoreline reflected a night in which Néstor Lorenzo’s rotated selection still dictated play. Friendly or not, a second straight win keeps momentum rolling before CONMEBOL qualifying resumes later this month.
Davinson Sánchez opened the scoring in the 17th minute, reacting first to a Luis Díaz cross that followed a short-corner routine. Díaz doubled the lead in the 23rd minute, finishing Jorge Carrascal’s through-ball after sustained pressure down the left. Fernán Faerron’s yellow card in the 24th minute underlined Costa Rica’s early strain.
M. Herrera’s side did respond. Andrey Soto halved the deficit in the 33rd minute, sweeping in after Josimar Alcócer pulled both centre backs out of position. It proved the visitors’ lone breakthrough before Willer Ditta collected a 40th-minute booking for impeding Manfred Ugalde on the break.
Lorenzo refreshed his shape at half-time, with James Rodríguez, Jhon Lucumí, Luis Javier Suárez and Jhon Arias all introduced at the restart. James supplied composure between the lines, Arias stretched play on the right, and Suárez pinned Costa Rica’s centre backs. Costa Rica tried to disrupt the rhythm—Jeyland Mitchell was cautioned in the 53rd minute—and Herrera shuffled again on 61 minutes by sending on Cristopher Núñez for Soto and Álvaro Zamora for Haxzel Quirós. Lorenzo replied with further control in midfield, bringing on Juan Portilla for Gustavo Puerta and Kevin Castaño for Richard Ríos in the 68th minute.
James steered the second half and sealed the win. In the 81st minute he threaded a pass into Suárez, who restored the two-goal cushion with a composed finish. Four more Colombia substitutions arrived in the 74th minute—Juan Fernando Quintero, Deiver Machado, Yerry Mina and David Ospina—to share minutes without losing structure, and Daniel Muñoz replaced Santiago Arias in the 89th minute to close it out.
Costa Rica’s bench could not tilt the contest. Luis Flores replaced Ugalde in the 77th minute but lacked supply, and Orlando Sinclair’s 83rd-minute cameo for Alcócer arrived after the decisive third goal.
Key stats: Colombia held 67 percent possession, recorded eight shots to Costa Rica’s six, and won the on-target battle four to three. Patrick Sequeira made two saves; Camilo Vargas matched him before Ospina handled the final quarter-hour.
Lineups:
- Colombia (4-2-3-1, Néstor Lorenzo): Camilo Vargas; Santiago Arias, Davinson Sánchez, Willer Ditta, Johan Mojica; Richard Ríos, Gustavo Puerta; Andrés Gómez, Jorge Carrascal, Luis Díaz; Juan Camilo “Cucho” Hernández.
- Costa Rica (4-1-4-1, M. Herrera): Patrick Sequeira; Haxzel Quirós, Jeyland Mitchell, Fernán Faerron, Darril Araya; Aarón Salazar; Carlos Mora, Orlando Galo, Andrey Soto, Josimar Alcócer; Manfred Ugalde.
Colombia now carry rhythm into their June qualifier camp, with James Rodríguez pushing to start after his assist and Díaz’s leadership reinforcing his claim to the armband. Costa Rica leave with questions ahead of their next warm-up, and we will monitor squad decisions after Herrera’s first extended look at this core. For more international camp updates, check Canada 2-0 Uzbekistan: Bench brigade lifts Marsch in the rain.
