A well taken brace from James Rodriguez saw Colombia overcome Uruguay 2-0 in a World Cup second round match at the Maracana and set up a quarterfinal showdown with Brazil.
It will be the first quarterfinal appearance for Colombia with Rodriguez becoming the first player since Christian Vieri in 1998 to score in the first four matches of his first World Cup.
James’ stunning opener came just before the half-hour mark, chesting a pass from Aguilar at the edge of the Uruguay area and, without letting the ball bounce, firing a swerving shot past Fernando Muslera to put Colombia ahead.
The goal was a reflection of Colombia being the better side in the first half, as Uruguay seemed to be missing striker Luis Suarez who was handed a nine-match international suspension along with a four-month ban from football by FIFA for biting Giorgio Chiellini.
Colombia would kill of the tie five minutes into the second half when Juan Cuardrado nodded back a Pablo Armero cross for James to slot home his second of the match and fifth of the mundial to put him in the lead for the World Cup golden boot.
Uruguay finally began to really threaten the Colombia goal afterwards, but goalkeeper David Ospina kept out efforts from Cristian Rodriguez, Cristian Stuani and Edinson Cavani to preserve Colombia’s two-goal advantage.
Tempers began to flare from the Uruguay team with elimination looming, culminating in unused substitute Diego Lugano getting booked and suspended from Uruguay’s next official match as a result, all after Gaston Ramirez kicked out at Armero.
Colombia would hold on for a deserved win and maintain their reputation as one of the dark horses of the World Cup.