You have to be good to make Paraguay chase shadows. Really good. Colombia was able to do just that in an 2-1 win at the Rose Bowl.

For years, La Albirroja have been famous for its vaunted defense. From the side that took the France to a shootout in the second round of the 1998 World Cup to the outfit that made it to the finals of the 2011 Copa America without scoring a goal in the knockout stages, Paraguay is always compact.

Nothing’s changed, except Colombia maximized efficiency in it’s passing and movement to unlock the Paraguay defense. With James Rodriguez featuring prominently in his free roll, Los Cafeteros swept from side to side at break neck speed.

Rodriguez’s goal typified everything which has made Colombia the third ranked team in the world. Juan Cuadrado charged up the right, fed the ball to Rodriguez who charged to his left and combined with Edwin Cardona before burying his shot into the far corner to give the Real Madrid man his second goal of the tournament and Jose Pekerman’s side a two goal lead with half an hour gone.

On the occasions that Paraguay had a chance to settle into its defensive shape, Colombia used what is still the best weapon of them all. They beat players off the dribble, one by one, shaking the very foundations of any defensive system.

Offensively, Paraguay was poor in the first half. The build-up was too slow, quelling any chance of exploiting space on counter-attacks. Meanwhile, Dario Lezcano, on his own up top, was starved of service.

Set pieces seemed to be Paraguay’s one attacking advantage and Paulo Da Silva thought he had pulled a goal back in the 34th minute, but the offsides flag was up.

A sign that the Paraguayan attack was improving came in first half stoppage time as Miguel Almiron broke forward and finally found Lezcano at the top of the box who was pulled down for a free-kick. The FC Ingolstadt man picked himself off and smashed the dead ball off the crossbar with virtually the last kick of the half.

Down 2-0 at the break, head coach Ramon Diaz made a bold move, bringing on two subs to start the second half. Jorge Benitez came on for Robert Piris Da Mota to add a bit more attacking flair and Victor Ayala replaced Edgar Benitez to add more bite and drive in the center of the park.

While the attack was quicker and Colombia’s defense began to wilt as the half wore on, set pieces were still the Paraguayan’s bread and butter.

Paraguay thought it had a chance to level from the spot after a foul from another dangerous free kick caused chaos in the Colombian box, only for the offsides flag to negate the call.

Just after the hour mark, Ayala whipped in yet another free kick that was headed by Oscar Romero. The ball looked destined for the far corner, but Ospina made the save of the tournament to keep Colombia ahead 2-0.

Even the goal that Paraguay pulled back in the 71st minute started with a set-piece. Romero won a free kick on the left wing which was quickly played to Ayala. The substitute took a few steps before unleashing a ferocious shot from distance that left Ospina dazed and confused as it sped past him.

Paraguay possessed the ball much better in the second half. The sending off of Romero on 81 minutes didn’t stop the red and white jerseys from pouring forward, but that little bit of quality that separates top sides from world class sides was lacking.

The perfect example presented itself in the game’s last passage of play. Paraguay broke down the left and had an opportunity to slip into the channel, but the final ball lacked the necessary weight to find the runner who had drifted into a dangerous shooting position inside the box.

It was opportunities lost going forward that has Paraguay heading into its final match against the USA fighting for its Copa America life, while Colombia is comfortably through with a game to spare.