Soccer Football - International Friendly - Spain v Colombia - London Stadium, London, Britain - March 22, 2024 Spain's Mikel Merino in action with Colombia's Daniel Munoz Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs
(Reuters) -Daniel Munoz scored with an acrobatic kick in the second half to give Colombia a 1-0 win in a friendly against Spain on Friday, their first win ever against the 2010 World Cup champions.
After a dour first half in which both managers rested several key players, Colombia came back with more intensity following the interval, with former Real Madrid attacking midfielder James Rodriguez coming off the bench to lead his side to their fifth consecutive win and extend their unbeaten run to 18 games.
James and jet-heeled Luis Diaz were a constant menace to a Spanish defence, with Athletic Bilbao centre-back Dani Vivian, who was making his debut with the national team, struggling to stop the talented Liverpool winger.
Diaz was unstoppable motoring up and down their left wing and created several chances that his team mates wasted, two of them to James which first misfired a curling strike way up the bar and later forced keeper Alex Remiro to make a brilliant one-handed save to deny Colombia the opener.
It was not until the 61st minute that they finally managed to score, with James delivering a long pass that Diaz got in stride before slicing Vivian with a fine individual play in the left channel and deliver a cross to Crystal Palace defender Munoz, who netted an acrobatic volley into the top corner.
Colombia kept controlling the proceeding and wasted several other chances to extend their lead against a highly changed Spain, who were left with their back against the wall.
It was Spain's first loss in one year, as manager Luis de la Fuente rested Rodri, Dani Carvajal, Alvaro Morata and several other key players in the build-up to the European Championship in Germany, which starts in June.
He handed international debuts to three players including Vivian and 17-year-old Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi, who came off the bench late in the second-half.
"We wanted them to live this experience. They are important players with a great future. They still have a long career ahead of them," De La Fuente told Spanish channel TVE. "We learn more from defeats than from victories. We are satisfied with a lot of things. We wanted to test ourselves and continue to improve."
(Reporting by Fernando Kallas; Editing by Will Dunham)
