Colombia captain James Rodriguez. (Photo : Getty Images)
Group A leaders Colombia (2-0-0, 6 points) will take on struggling powerhouse Costa Rica (0-1-1, 1 point) for their last assignment in the group stage of the 2016 Copa América Centenario in a match set at the NRG Stadium in Houston on June 11, Saturday.
Colombia is already assured of a spot in the quarterfinals of the said tournament after gaining their second consecutive win on Tuesday, a 2-1 spanking of fellow CONMEBOL side Paraguay at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Goal reported.
AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca and Real Madrid midfielder James Rodriguez, who captains head coach José Pékerman's side in this tourney, provided the goals for Los Cafeteros at the 12th and 30th minutes respectively.
Rodriguez assisted in Bacca's opening strike while Monterrey attacking midfielder Edwin Cardona made the pass to James for the team's second goal.
The Los Blancos standout overcame a slight shoulder injury suffered in their opening day win over the United States last week to score his second goal of the tourney in as many games, increasing his goalscoring output for the country to 16.
Paraguay's 23-year-old midfielder, Oscar Romero, was sent off after two yellow cards with nine minutes left before full time as the Colombians breezed away with the win.
Meanwhile, Costa Rica dropped a humiliating 0-4 decision to the United States at the Soldier Field in Chicago also on the same matchday as the team remained winless after two games, via ESPN.
The team had beaten Team USA before in a friendly under new manager Oscar Ramírez, but they were not able to pull it off this time in the official competitions.
Clint Dempsey opened the scoring at the ninth minute followed by Jermaine Jones at the 37th to give the hosts a 2-0 advantage. Bobby Wood then struck three minutes before halftime as the US built a 3-0 lead at the break.
Sporting Kansas City midfielder Graham Zusi made 4-0 three minutes before regulation time expired as Los Ticos suffered a major setback to their quarterfinal hopes.
Costa Rica can still sneak in to the last-eight round if they can pull off an improbable victory over Colombia that should be more than four points and at the same time USMNT falls to Paraguay via a single point.
The predicted result is a 3-1 victory for Colombia.
Colombia starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Ospina; Arias, Zapata, Murillo, Diaz; Perez, Torres; Cuadrado, Rodriguez, Cardona; Bacca
Costa Rica starting lineup (5-4-1 formation): Pemberton; Gamboa, Duarte, Acosta, Calvo, Matarrita; Campbell, Bolaños, Borges, Ruiz; Ureña
