Mass brawl breaks out after horrific challenge on Luis Diaz in Colombia vs Bolivia

Colombia continued their preparations for Copa America last night with a 3-0 rout of Bolivia in a pre-tournament friendly. But the convincing result was marred by a horror tackle on star winger Luis Diaz, which incited a mass brawl between each set of players.

Diaz, who is well known to Premier League fans for his club involvement with Liverpool, was hit with a two-footed, studs-up challenge from behind in the 66th minute. Yet, to the shock of the colourful Rentschler Field crowd, the Bolivian perpetrator only received a yellow card for a tackle that could have had a serious impact on Diaz’s Copa America hopes.

Instead, with his Colombian teammates quick to defend the winger, clashes between both players resulted in a red card for Daniel Munoz – who was first on the scene after the tackle – and Bolivia’s Cesar Menacho. The saving grace of the wrangle was that Diaz continued after the incident, and played another 11 minutes before a late substitution saw him replaced by Santiago Arias.

Luis Diaz Scores Again For Colombia

The Liverpool man has hit form at the right time for his nation

The Liverpool star’s night produced the narrative of highs and lows. Fortunately, there was no lasting impact from the tackle, and Diaz more than played his part in the victory by scoring Los Cafeteros’ third goal.

Continuing his fine goal-scoring form, as the 27-year-old scored four goals in five games in the last Copa America, Diaz – who has been linked with a move to PSG and Barcelona in recent weeks – picked the ball up on the edge of the box before bursting past a defender and calmly slotting the ball into the back of the net.

Diaz now has 48 caps for Colombia and has scored 11 goals and provided two assists for his national team. Alongside his teammates, and he has seemingly found his best rhythm right at the perfect time for his nation as they look to attain Copa America glory for the first time since 2001.

Colombia’s Copa America Chances

They have an abundance of quality

Colombia’s squad boasts a number of quality players, including Premier League stars Jefferson Lerma, Luis Sinisterra and Jhon Duran, whilst James Rodriguez the star of the 2014 World Cup has also made the squad. With the likes of Diaz also in their ranks, Nestor Lorenzo has every chance of leading the side to forgotten glory this summer.

The form guide makes for good reading, too. Colombia haven’t lost since February 2022 against Argentina, winning their previous eight fixtures, including promising triumphs over Spain, Brazil, and a 5-1 dismantling over USA.

According to NBC Sports, they’re fourth favourites for the prize, behind World Cup winners Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.