LIVE - Colombia 1, Uruguay 0: James Rodriguez strike gives Colombia the edge at halftime

The quality of football from Colombia and Uruguay is almost incomparable after the first half.

Colombia have looked superb in the opening 45 minutes, taking a 1-0 lead just before the half hour mark courtesy of a James Rodriguez wonder strike, while the Uruguayans have been content on inviting their opponents' attacking pressure.

Colombia made several inspiring runs against the Uruguayan defenders, but were thwarted by cynical challenges that produced free kicks.

Uruguay employed Edinson Cavani as the lone striker in the early stages, with Diego Forlan being used in a deeper role to play provider. But Uruguay's best chances on net only came when they fell behind.

Rodriguez answered the call for his nation once again when he thumped a left-footed volley beyond Fernando Muslera and into the net in what might be the best goal of the 2014 World Cup. It seemed to come out of nowhere as a Uruguayan clearance found the head of Abel Aguilar, who then headed it to Rodriguez. As five defenders tried to close down on him, Rodriguez produced a bit of magic rarely seen to give his country the advantage.

Uruguay applied pressure afterwards, but solid defensive efforts and misguided attempts on goal denied them an equalizer. Cavani came closest to a goal until his header was pushed away by Colombian keeper David Ospina.

Overall, it was an uninspired effort from Uruguay as they will likely need to make major changes to their attacking scheme if they stand any shot of advancing past this exciting Colombian team.