Colombia are through to the second round of the South American Under-20 Championship following a hard-fought 3-3 draw with Paraguay.
The Colombian youngsters needed a draw against Paraguay after their other remaining rivals in this group, Bolivia, lost 3-1 to Ecuador earlier on Friday.
But Paraguay had a much better start at Jorge Basadre stadium in Tacna, Peru, with Claudio Correa scoring the opener in the 32 minutes. Another five minutes later, Oscar Ruiz doubled the gap.
Edwin Cardona then pulled one back in the 39th minute but Colombia’s hope was short-lived as Ruiz made it 3-1 to Paraguay 12 minutes after the break.
The Colombians never gave up however and chaos in the Paraguayan penalty area allowed Michael Ortega to score from close range on 70 minutes.
And with five minutes left, a foul in the area earned Colombia a penalty kick with Cardona making no mistakes from the spot, 3-3.
The second round consists of a six-team group phase, four of which will qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The other five qualified teams are Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay.
