Internationals – mixed fortunes for defensive trio

Juan Foyth marched into the Copa America semi-finals with Argentina on Friday night, but club team-mate Davinson Sanchez suffered penalty shootout heartbreak with Colombia, while Serge Aurier’s Ivory Coast tasted defeat at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Central defender Juan kept his place in the starting line-up as Argentina took on Venezuela at Brazil’s world-famous Maracanã and saw his nation score in each half to win their quarter-final 2-0.

Juan, who came into the side for Argentina’s third and final group stage match against Qatar, played the full 90 minutes in Rio de Janeiro, with his side now able to look forward to a mouth-watering last-four clash with the host nation in Belo Horizonte in the early hours of Wednesday morning (3 July, 1.30am UK time).

Fellow centre-half Davinson also put in a full shift for Colombia as they managed to hold out 0-0 against reigning champions Chile in their quarter-final in São Paulo, only to lose 5-4 on penalties. Chile might have won earlier in the night but saw two efforts ruled out by VAR.

In Egypt, right-back and captain Serge started and played 69 minutes for Ivory Coast as their AFCON Group D campaign was dented by a 1-0 defeat to Morocco. Serge’s side are still second in the standings with qualification for the knockout stages in their own hands ahead of their final group game against Namibia on Monday (1 July, 5pm UK time).