Poland 0-3 Colombia
Colombia put on a great display of attacking football to re-ignite their World Cup 2018 campaign while at the same time sending Poland home.
It was an even contest for the first half-hour, but once Jose Pekerman’s team went ahead there was no looking back. Colombia played with pride and passion, while Poland went out with a whimper.
When Radamel Falcao and Robert Lewandowski led their teams out at the Kazan Stadium, there was great tension in the air. Neither of these two highly fancied teams expected to be in the position of being pointless; but losing their opening games to the outsiders, Senegal and Japan, suddenly made Group H a much more difficult proposition.
And when the World Cup 2018 news that Senegal had earlier drawn with Japan filtered through the stadium, both teams realised neither could climb into the top two by the end of 90 minutes. So it was all set up for a tight, fraught and dramatic night of football…not for the faint-hearted.
The dismissal of Carlos Sanchez in Colombia’s opening game against Japan was the nations’ first red card in their World Cup history and the first of Russia 2018. This means Head Coach Pekerman had to reshuffle his pack, bringing in midfielder Abel Aguilar as well as giving FC Bayern striker James Rodriguez a start, and that was a gem of a move.
Highlights
Both sets of fans knew what this game meant and the Colombian supporters particularly generated a great atmosphere in the Kazan Stadium but, at first, that did little to rouse the players who seemed fearful of making mistakes in the early exchanges.
Robert Lewandowski had the first meaningful attempt on goal, but his header didn’t have enough power or direction to trouble Colombia keeper David Ospina. One of the most popular World Cup 2018 predictions was that the Bundesliga’s leading scorer would challenge for the Golden Boot, but he’s done nothing to give that any credence.
And as the half went on, Colombia began to take the initiative and had the better of the game. Their fans had control of the stadium noise, booing every Poland passage of play and roaring their own heroes on at every opportunity.
Winger Juan Cuadrado produced a brilliant run on 37 minutes, and then a stinging shot which Wojciech Szczesny saved well. But there’s nothing the keeper could do three minutes later when Colombia took a deserved lead. Rodriguez worked a clever short corner with Cuadrado, and the Bayern player took the ball back before standing it up superbly at the back post, where defender Yerry Mina headed gleefully home.
Adam Nawalka had a job to do at half-time to keep Poland in the World Cup. But the early stages of the second half followed the same pattern as the first, with Colombia playing the better football. Cuadrado presented Falcao with a chance but the skipper could only blast his shot over.
Nawalka rolled the dice, bringing on Hull City winger Kamil Grosicki and then, not before time, Poland got the ball forward quickly to Lewandowski, but the hit man’s shot was bravely blocked by Ospina.
And then on 70 minutes, the Colombian fans erupted as Falcao took a great ball from Juan Quintero and coolly slotted home. And just five minutes later, they were in heaven when Cuadrado got the goal he deserved latching on to Rodriguez’s pass and firing hard and low into the corner.
It was 3-0 and game over.
Key statistics
Well, this was the first tournament meeting between Poland and Colombia. It was well won by the South Americans, with 55 per cent possession and 13 shots to nine.
James Rodriguez has been involved in ten goals in seven World Cup appearances for Colombia, scoring six and assisting four. That was a good move by Pekerman.
Robert Lewandowski has scored 21 goals in 17 internationals, but none in the last two has seen his side crash out.
What’s next?
Take a look at the Group H table and it tells you all you need to know. Poland are out of Russia 2018 after an abject campaign and Colombia are right back in it. But the South Americans are still in third place and need at least a draw, probably a win in their last game to make it through to the last 16.
Next week, Poland meet Japan at the Volgograd Arena in the hope of recovering some pride, while Colombia face Senegal at the Cosmos Arena in a winner-takes-all clash at Samara. We’ll get the SBOBET tips out soon but, as it stands, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Colombia qualify, maybe with some help from Poland.
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