Daniel Muñoz earns Colombia historic win over Spain at London Stadium

Daniel Muñoz scored an acrobatic second-half winner as Colombia defeated Spain 1-0 in a friendly at the London Stadium on Friday, earning the men’s side their first win ever against La Roja.

After a dour first half in which both managers rested several key players, Colombia came back with more intensity following the interval. The former Real Madrid attacking midfielder James Rodríguez came off the bench to lead his side to a fifth consecutive win and extend their unbeaten run to 18 games.

Rodríguez, who now plays for São Paulo in Brazil, was a constant threat to the Spanish defence alongside the jet-heeled Luis Díaz. Athletic Bilbao centre-back Dani Vivian, who was making his Spain debut, struggled to stop the talented Liverpool winger.

Díaz raced up and down the left wing at will and created several chances that his team mates wasted. Two of them fell to Rodríguez, who first misfired a curling strike and then forced Spain keeper Álex Remiro – who replaced Arsenal’s David Raya at half-time – to make a brilliant one-handed save.

Colombia were the dominant force in the second half and finally broke the deadlock just after the hour mark. Rodríguez delivered a long pass that Diaz controlled before getting beyond Vivian again and crossing to Crystal Palace defender Muñoz, who netted the winning goal with an acrobatic volley into the top corner.

The result delighted the legions of yellow-shirted Colombia fans who had filled the stands at West Ham’s home ground. Spain slumped to their first loss in a year but manager Luis de la Fuente could point to his much-changed starting line-up as Rodri, Dani Carvajal, Álvaro Morata and other key players were left out.

The Spain manager handed international debuts to three players including 17-year-old Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsí, who came off the bench late in the second-half. “We wanted them to live this experience. They are important players with a great future. They still have a long career ahead of them,” De La Fuente told Spanish channel TVE.

“We learn more from defeats than from victories. We are satisfied with a lot of things. We wanted to test ourselves and continue to improve.” Spain face Brazil at the Bernabéu on Tuesday and will play Andorra in June before Euro 2024. Colombia also head to Madrid next, to face Romania at Atlético’s Wanda Metropolitano.