Spain 2-2 Colombia (4-2 pens): La Roja overcome huge scare to win on penalties
Spain overcame a huge scare and a 2-0 deficit to beat Colombia on penalties and advance to the semi-finals at the Paris Olympics.
Spain came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with Colombia before winning 4-2 on penalties in Saturday's Olympic quarter-final.
La Roja went into the clash in Lyon having enjoyed a perfect record at the Paris Games, but were on the brink of a shock exit when Leicy Santos put Colombia 2-0 up.
Santos' goal came after Mayra Ramirez had opened the scoring for Colombia at the Groupama Stadium.
Yet Spain fought back late on, with Jenni Hermoso scoring in the 79th minute before captain Irene Paredes netted deep into injury time.
Extra time came and went, and Cata Coll proved Spain's hero with a save from Catalina Usme, while Colombia substitute Liana Salazar also missed the target.
That paved the way for Aitana Bonmati, the Ballon d'Or winner, to dispatch the winning spot-kick and tee up a meeting with France or Brazil in the last four.
Data Debrief: Spain's quality inspires fightback
Despite creating fewer expected goals (xG) than their opponents, with 1.05 to Spain’s 2.52, Colombia showed real effectiveness in taking the chances that were presented to them.
They scored close-range goals from just four shots inside the area and seven in total, while they only had eight touches in the opposition box for the entirety of the 120+ minutes.
But Spain overwhelmed Colombia as the match wore on, as evidenced by a huge gulf when it came to final third entries, with 155 for La Roja to 26 for their opponents, while they also enjoyed 46 more touches in the opposition box than their opponents.
Paredes was ultimately Spain's hero in regulation time. She has been involved in three goals in her last five games for her country (two goals and one assist), the same as in her previous 30 games in all competitions (two goals and one assist).