They say that revenge is a dish best served cold. Cold or not, it surely was revenge for Japan by defeating Colombia in Saransk. In the process, they became the first Asian team to defeat a South American team in World Cup history and with a man short, Colombia struggled in the game. It is questionable if it was a deliberate handball by Carlos Sanchez that led him to get his marching orders from the referee. It was a goal-bound shot. The referee could have given him the benefit of doubt as he was already in the air but sometimes referees give decisions strictly by the rulebook. If you jump, your hands are bound to come out and in a way, the decision killed Colombia. It was a third-minute penalty and ex-Manchester United player Shinji Kagawa buried the spot kick expertly.
A lot of the onus for this match was on Falcao. Given that their golden boy James Rodriguez was out injured, a lot of pressure was on Falcao. Falcao was looking for a free kick on the edge of the box and he succeeded. What a free kick by Quintero! It was sublime to shoot under the defender wall. Falcao had a couple of opportunities and he was over stretching and trying hard to get his team into the game. He was the lone striker just like England’s Harry Kane or Portugal’s Ronaldo but not as good as them.
Japan took hold of the game after the start of the second half and the 60th-minute introduction of James Rodriguez and Bacca changed proceedings again for a while. However, Japan started dominating possession and had many shots on goal from Inui that were saved by Ospina. A textbook header from Japan’s Osako again gave Japan a gold-laced impetus. Moreover, Japan held onto the result to get victory and helped erase the memories from 2014 World Cup in Brazil when Colombia recorded a crushing 4-1 win against them.
