Colo Colo suffered a 3-0 defeat to Cobresal in El Salvador in matchday 29 of the Primera Liga, jeopardizing their qualification for the 2025 Copa Sudamericana. Fernando Ortiz's team displayed defensive fragility and failed to mount a comeback despite second-half efforts. The Argentine coach took responsibility and regretted again depending on other results.
In a crucial match for qualification to the 2025 Copa Sudamericana, Cobresal defeated Colo Colo 3-0 at Estadio El Cobre in El Salvador, with 2,252 spectators in attendance. The miners' goals came early: César Munder opened the scoring in the 12th minute, capitalizing on an error by Emiliano Amor, who mishit a back pass to Fernando De Paul. Diego Coelho extended the lead at the 44th with a header from Vicente Fernández's cross, and Munder sealed it at the 50th with a long-range strike from 30 meters that caught De Paul off guard.
Colo Colo, without suspended Arturo Vidal, lined up De Paul; Isla, Amor, Vegas, Wiemberg; Méndez, Alarcón, Pizarro; Cepeda, Aquino; Correa. They tried to control possession, exceeding 70% in the second half, but lacked precision in attack and were frail in defense. Substitutions like Leandro Hernández and Salomón Rodríguez did not change the flow, with Cobresal dropping into a 5-3-2.
After the loss, Colo Colo dropped to eighth place with 44 points and a +11 goal difference, falling out of the qualification zone. They now rely on Audax Italiano not beating Ñublense and Palestino losing to La Serena this matchday, to fight it out in the final round against Audax at the Monumental on December 7.
In the post-match press conference, Fernando Ortiz was self-critical: “We never got into the game. [...] I am the one responsible”. He added: “We are back to not depending on ourselves; waiting to see what happens and hopefully we can have it in our hands again in the last home match to qualify for an international cup”. Cobresal, under Gustavo Huerta, revived their continental hopes with this resounding win.
