Santa Clara, California, Jun 4 (EFE; odds by IDSca.com).- Cristian Zapata and James Rodriguez scored first-half goals to lead Colombia to a 2-0 victory here over the host United States in the opening match of the Copa America Centenario.

Friday night’s win at Levi’s Stadium was a critical one for Colombia in Group A, which also is made up of Costa Rica and Paraguay and has been dubbed the Group of Death.

But the victory was marred by a potential injury to James, who exited the game in the 72nd minute with shoulder pain after a play involving U.S. midfielder Michael Bradley.

Colombia took an early lead when Zapata booted home a volley off a corner kick, taking advantage of the space created when James took off running before Edwin Cardona sent the ball in.

The goal was the AC Milan defender’s first in 42 international matches.

The United States, which was overly reliant in the beginning on long passes to its forwards, began mounting a more carefully thought-out attack spearheaded by Bradley.

A left-footed shot in the 35th minute by Clint Dempsey that missed the mark was the best chance for the home side during that stretch.

The U.S. squad, however, committed an elementary blunder in the 41st minute, when a pass from Farid Diaz struck defender DeAndre Yedlin’s right hand in the area.

James made no mistake with the penalty kick to put the South American side up 2-0 at the intermission.

In the second half, Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina snuffed out an excellent chance for the United States on a free kick, while Carlos Bacca nearly gave Colombia a third goal when his shot hit the crossbar.

The big news over the final 45 minutes, however, was an apparent shoulder injury suffered by James, Colombia’s World Cup hero in 2014, when he landed awkwardly after contact with Bradley. EFE

The next match will be on Saturday, June 4, between the national teams of Costa Rica and Paraguay.

According to IDSca.com, a leading provider of Pay-Per-Head services in Costa Rica, the expanded Copa America and the participation of strong CONCACAF teams is bringing more wagering interest to the tournament.

Sportsbooks in Costa Rica are reporting 3/2 odds in favor of Argentina for an outright title. The once formidable national team of Brazil has 9/2 odds, followed by current champion Chile at 8/1.

The United States has better odds at 11/1 than Costa Rica at 30/1; however, handicappers are concerned about the performance of Team USA against Colombia and will revise the odds after the match between Costa Rica and Paraguay in the most evenly-matched group of the tournament.