Japan stun Colombia to earn historic win
- by Elias Mendoza
- in Sports
- — Jun 20, 2018
Japan made hard work of a match in which they held all the cards but were saved by a late Yuya Osako victor which earned them a 2-1 win in their World Cup opener against a 10-man Colombia on Tuesday.
Japan's win is the first by an Asian team over a nation from South America in the history of the World Cup, yet Nishino was not getting carried away with the performance ahead of their next match against Senegal on Sunday.
Yuya Osako headed in the victor after Juan Quintero's 39th minute free-kick had cancelled out Shinji Kagawa's third minute openee from the spot.
Colombia struggled for goals in qualifying and, down to 10 men so early in the game and without injured star man James Rodriguez from the off, it was proving to be a frustrating afternoon.
The River Plate attacker, who had set up two saved shots for Radamel Falcao earlier in the half, sent a free kick under the jumping Japanese wall and inside Eiji Kawashima's post, despite the keeper's best efforts to claw it away. Another humdinger! Japan kicked off their World Cup campaign in a glorious fashion as they triumphed over Los Cafeteros with a marginal scoreline of 2-1. The team joins Mexico, Switzerland and Iceland in earning surprising results.
Another video review led to a penalty at the World Cup, this time helping Sweden beat South Korea 1-0 Monday.
Jonathan Evans adapted this story based on the Associated Press news report.
Jada Pinkett Smith & Daughter Willow Get Candid About Orgasms in New Video
Deciding when and how to teach kids about sex is one of the longest-standing and most controversial parenting conundrums. Jada Pinkett Smith did everything she could to make sure her son was always safe during his childhood.
But Japan finally made their extra man count when Osako, who was a constant menace to the Colombia defence, leapt highest from a corner and guided his header in off the post with 17 minutes to go.
"I told them at halftime to keep moving, get the advantage in positioning", Japan coach Akira Nishino said. Incidentally there have been more direct free-kick goals scored in just 15 games at this World Cup than there were in the entire 2014 edition.
I know Sanchez had a bad game, people need to calm down he usually has jan next to him, also played a lot of games for us last season & he is only 22.
While Carlos Sanchez took the fall, namesake Davinson was equally at fault as he allowed a ball over the top to bounce in the build-up to the penalty incident, giving Osaka a chance to shoot and Kagawa the opportunity to pounce on the follow-up.
In a last throw of the dice, Pekerman introduced James Rodriguez, who did not start due to a calf problem, in the 59th minute but the Golden Boot victor in Brazil was unable to change the course of the match.
Shinji Okazaki also was named on the bench after a calf complaint but Shinji Kagawa was handed a start. "I wanted to play along the sides so that they could pass balls forward so that we could cause Japan more problems", said Pekerman.
World Cup games are known for starting on time, but not this one. The 32-year-old sent his corner from the left side curling and dipping past the Colombia defenders into the path of the flying Osako.
