Luis Diaz brought Colombia’s goal famine to an end as Los Cafeteros kept their slender World Cup hopes alive.
Colombia had gone seven qualifiers and 685 minutes without finding the back of the net - their longest run without scoring in South American qualifying ever - to destroy their hopes of automatic qualification for this year’s finals in Qatar.
Not since Diaz had rounded off a 3-1 win over Chile on September 10 had manager Reinaldo Rueda seen his side notch, with a run of three defeats and four goalless draws seeing them fall from third in the CONMEBOL qualifying table to seventh. But a 3-0 home win over Bolivia in Barranquilla on Thursday night pushed them back into sixth, one point behind Peru in the race for a playoff spot.
