Yerry Mina also featured for the national team, after his excellent performance in Como (and the surrounding controversy) . The Cagliari defender was a key figure in Colombia's 2-1 friendly victory against New Zealand, providing the assist for the winning goal. Three minutes from time, shortly after the opponents had equalized, he handled a ball from the back on the center-right and played it forward: a pass of about 50 meters, which Johan Carbonero ran through the New Zealand defense to control and fire into the net from the edge of the area.
Colombia took an early lead through Gustavo Puerta in the third minute. New Zealand then equalized in the 80th minute with a tap-in from a low cross from the right. Mina remained on the pitch for the entire match .
The friendly match was played in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where Colombia has been training all week. The South American national team will now travel to New York, where they will face Oceania in another friendly at 2:00 AM Italian time between Tuesday and Wednesday. Mina will then be able to return to Cagliari, ahead of the Serie A restart against Genoa: it will be a race against time, given the intercontinental trip and the early match on Saturday at 3:00 PM .