Colombia complete late comeback to beat Mexico in LA friendly

A 92nd minute game-winner from Real Salt Lake forward Andres Gomez secured a 3-2 victory for Colombia over Mexico in Saturday's friendly at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

With both teams featuring experimental rosters due to the match landing on a non-FIFA date, the friendly kicked off in energetic fashion with dangerous first-half opportunities for both sides.

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While Puebla's Guillermo Martínez placed a header on target for Mexico in the ninth minute, Colombia forced two saves from El Tri goalkeeper Jose Antonio Rodríguez by the midway point of the first half.

But it was Mexico that opened the scoring in the 40th minute with the first goal of the night. Monterrey's Omar Govea intercepted the ball and did well to connect with Martínez in the final third, before the Mexico midfielder received the ball back and slotted a shot past former Napoli goalkeeper David Ospina.

In the second half, the back-and-forth continued. Martínez made it 2-0 for Mexico after his 50th minute shot found its way under Ospina, and in the 55th minute Colombia narrowed that lead to 2-1 thanks to New York Red Bulls defender Andrés Reyes finding the back of the net after a close range assist from Sebastian Velásquez.

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Colombia then made it 2-2 in the 69th minute after a highlight-worthy strike from Racing Club's Roger Martínez. Following a clash between two players in the midfield, Martínez rushed forward with the ball and launched a powerful attempt that Rodriguez failed to halt.

Appearing destined for a draw, the game swung in Colombia's favor in stoppage time after Gomez pounced on an 18-yard box assist from David Macalister Silva to make it 3-2.

Moments later, the final whistle blew, extending Colombia's undefeated streak to 19 games.

Mexico manager Jaime "Jimmy" Lozano, who took over as interim coach before winning the Gold Cup and being given the permanent position in August, closes out 2023 with a 7W-3D-3L record.

Colombia manager Nestor Lorenzo, hired in the summer 2022, maintains an 8W-5D-0L unbeaten record.

Earlier this month, both teams were involved in the draw for the 2024 Copa America, which will be hosted in the United States. In Group B, Mexico will face Ecuador, Venezuela and Jamaica and, in Group D, Colombia will face Brazil, Paraguay and the winner of a playoff between Costa Rica and Honduras.