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Colombia shuts out Japan in semifinals

Nobuhisa Yamada of Japan, right, and Eudalio Arriaga of Colombia battle during their Confederations Cup match, in Saint Etienne, France, on Sunday. PHOTO: AP

Playmaker Giovanni Hernandez's goal Sunday gave Colombia a 1-0 win against Japan and a spot in the Confederations Cup semifinals.

Capitalizing on a turnover by Japanese midfielder Yasuhito Endo, Hernandez -- a Deportivo Cali striker -- pounced on a loose ball inside the area, spinned around and wrongfooted goalkeeper Seijo Narazaki from 8m in the 68th minute.

Japan, which needed only a draw to advance, almost took the lead on a header off the post in the 51st minute from forward Naohiro Takahara but fell back in the later stages.

France won Group A with three straight victories, concluding with a 5-0 win against New Zealand on Sunday. Colombia came in second with six points, followed by Japan (3) and New Zealand (0).

In Thursday's semifinals, Colombia will meet the Group B winner -- either Cameroon, Brazil or Turkey -- in Lyon.

"Minute by minute, my players are reaching their top level," Maturana said. "Advancing in this party will help this team grow. We're here to have fun. Japan was a top-notch opponent and that makes this win even sweeter.

Lineups * Japan: Seigo Narazaki; Tsuneyasu Miyamoto, Keisuke Tsuboi, Nobuhisa Yamada; Hidetoshi Nakata, Mitsuo Ogasawara (Daisuke Matsui, 74th), Alessandro Santos, Koji Nakata, Yasuhito Endo (Daisuke Oku, 85th); Yoshito Okubo (Yuichiro Nagai, 66th), Naohiro Takahara. * Colombia: Oscar Cordoba; Mario Yepes, Jose Mera, Gerardo Bedoya, Gonzalo Martinez; Giovanni Hernandez, Oscar Diaz (Arnulfo Valentierra, 46th), Jorge Lopez, Jairo Patino; Victor Aristizabal, Eudalio Arriaga (Gerardo Vallejo, 76th).

"I'm also happy because this victory gives our country some good news. Colombia is going through a very difficult time."

Before Maturana's team went ahead, Japan also had its chances.

Taking a pass from defender Nobuhisa Yamada, Takahara connected on a header that banged off the post in the 51st with goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba beaten.

Three minutes later, Colombia almost took the lead on a shot by Victor Aristizabal, which went right at goalkeeper Seigo Narazaki.

Colombia controlled the play in the first half and nearly went ahead less than a minute into the match when Jorge Lopez's long shot went wide. In the 10th, Lopez had another chance, but his header from inside the area also missed the mark.

"I'm very proud of the team," said Japan's Brazilian coach Zico. "They played a great game today. We just didn't turn it into a great result."

Both teams were without their best players from their first two games.

Japan's Italy-based midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura, who leads the tournament with three goals, sat out with an ankle injury and Colombia missed its captain, Inter Milan defender Ivan Cordoba, who was disqualified after receiving his second yellow card against New Zealand.

The match was played before 24,541 fans in the 36,000-seat Geoffroy Guichard stadium.

Before and after the match, players took part in FIFA's Fair Play day by demonstrating against racism with a brief ceremony. After the match, the two teams lineup up and shook hands.
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