Group C remains fairly open, with Colombia qualified and Greece, Japan and the Ivory Coast all able to qualify, potentially.
I'm rooting for Japan, purely on the basis Shinji Kagawa plays for them, even if he has had a terrible time of it in the last 12 months. It seems most likely Ivory Coast will go through, however. I'll say Colombia will win this game 1-0 while Ivory Coast win 3-0.
First Half
Not the greatest game to watch, though the pitch doesn't seem to be helping. Japan have had the lion's share of possession but lacked a decent striker to finish their hard work. At the other end, one of their defenders committed a horrific mistake to give away a penalty, which Colombia converted.
In possibly the last second before half time, Japan somehow engineered an equaliser. With Greece winning 1-0, this whole group is still up for grabs.
Second Half
Japan, sadly for them, lost all focus and got gradually destroyed by a very impressive Colombian side.There was a nice moment when the 43 year old goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon (who was a member of the Colmbia World Cup squad from 20 years ago!) was brought on as a sub for the last few minutes.
In a somewhat dramatic twist, Greece, who had seen their lead equalised, scored a last second winner to take them through too!
Result
4-1 to Colombia. They top the group, with Greece second. First time the Greeks have made it to the knockout stage, so well done them.
Best Song About Any of the Nations Involved
Discovering Japan by Graham Parker and the Rumour
No comments:
Post a Comment