Reigning champions Chile progressed to the semifinals of the Copa America on Friday subsequent to beating Colombia 5-4 in a penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw in Sao Paulo.

Alexis Sanchez got the triumphant spot kick after William Tesillo pulled Colombia’s last penalty wide of the post.

Chile will confront either Uruguay or Peru in Wednesday’s semifinal in Porto Alegre. The other semi is between hosts Brazil and Argentina.

Chile had beaten Argentina in the last two finals of the competition on penalty kicks and they gave Colombian goalkeeper David Ospina no chance on Friday.

“I think we had opportunities [during the game],” said Chile’s Charles Aranguiz. “We didn’t take them and we had to do it on penalties.

“Our team is confident when it comes to penalties, we have won two finals on penalties. So that gives us energy.”

The kick-off at the Corinthians field was postponed by 20 minutes after the Chilean mentor got stuck in Sao Paulo’s notorious traffic, keeping in excess of 40,000 fans waiting.

Tempers as often as possible flared in a match with 35 fouls yet there was no absence of quality on show as the two sides made possibilities.

Chile were unfortunate not to win in regulation time, with Aranguiz in the first half and Vidal in the second having goals chalked off after video assistant referee (VAR) reviews.

“It’s difficult because you’re going at 100 miles an hour and then they annul two goals,” said Vidal. “But we kept our heads and won it on the penalties.

“We deserved it.”