AC Milan striker Carlos Bacca scored the only goal as Colombia defeated the US 1-0 to clinch third place in the Copa America Centenario on Saturday.
Bacca, 29, bundled home the winner on 31 minutes, nudging in from close range to settle a hard-fought contest.
The US, beaten 4-0 by Argentina in the semi-finals on Tuesday, rallied desperately to get back into the game, but ultimately were frustrated by some superb goalkeeping from David Ospina.
US coach Jurgen Klinsmann had blamed his side for being “too nice” against Argentina in the semi-finals, when they failed to register a single shot either on or off target.
However, they were unlucky not to score during an entertaining game in Arizona.
Colombia went close to scoring through Real Madrid star James Rodriguez, who was denied by a fine Tim Howard save on 12 minutes.
Rodriguez was the architect for Colombia’s goal, chipping a wonderful pass into the path of Santiago Arias, who headed across the box for Bacca to score.
Seattle Sounders veteran Clint Dempsey, arguably the best US player of the tournament, had another good game, but was unable to add to his Copa tally of three goals and three assists.
Dempsey almost laid on a goal for Hamburg SV’s Bobby Wood, but the Bundesliga-based striker was unable to get his shot away cleanly.
“Ultimately they were clinical,” Klinsmann said of Colombia. “They took their one chance in the first half, we couldn’t take ours. There were enough chances for us to put one in, but we just weren’t clinical enough.”
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