Colombia playmaker James Rodriguez set up Jackson Martinez for two goals and scored one himself as they thrashed Japan 4-1 to claim top spot in Group C on Tuesday and set up a mouthwatering second-round clash with Uruguay.
Colombia, who are in the round-of-16 for the first time since 1990 and had never before won three matches at the finals, went ahead with an early Juan Cuadrado penalty at the Arena Pantanal.
Martinez struck twice in the second half from passes by halftime substitute Rodriguez and Colombia could even afford to bring on 43-year-old backup goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon, who became the oldest player to take the field at a World Cup.
Photo: EPA
Rodriguez, one of eight players rested from the starting lineup by coach Jose Pekerman after the 2-1 win over Ivory Coast that secured Colombia’s second-round berth, wrapped up the win with a delightful fourth goal.
“I think what James has done today simply demonstrates what we expected from him. From the beginning he has shown he is very well physically and very fit, and we can expect a lot from him,” Pekerman told reporters.
Japan equalized just before halftime with Shinji Okazaki’s fine diving header, but fell apart near the end of the match.
“It was a difficult first half, we had lots of opportunities to score, but found that their strong defense did a lot of damage,” Martinez said.
“In the second half, we were a lot better and were able to show the kind of play we had in previous games,” added Martinez, playing in place of Teofilo Gutierrez.
Japan suffered their worst defeat at a World Cup since they lost by the same score against Brazil in 2006 in Germany, but still contributed to an entertaining and exciting last match in Cuiaba.
Colombia took the lead after 17 minutes when Adrian Ramos was brought down by centerback Yasuyuki Konno as he raced into the penalty area on the left and Cuadrado calmly converted from the spot.
Japan got a brilliant and well-deserved equalizer on the stroke of halftime after enjoying more of the possession in the first half and constantly probing Colombia’s reserve central defensive pairing of Carlos Valdes and Eder Alvarez Balanta.
Keisuke Honda sent a low, left-footed cross in from the right corner of the area and Okazaki got in front of Valdes to steer a diving header past goalkeeper David Ospina just inside the near post.
With Colombia’s main marksman Radamel Falcao missing the tournament through injury and Teofilo Gutierrez rested, Martinez underlined Colombia’s depth of striking talent when he put them ahead again 10 minutes into the second half.
Rightback Santiago Arias cut inside and passed to Rodriguez, who laid the ball off to his left from where Martinez shot home across the diving Eiji Kawashima.
With Rodriguez dictating the pace of Colombia’s counterattacks, Martinez scored his second eight minutes from time as Japan threw bodies forward looking for an equalizer.
Rodriguez, fed by Martinez, then scored with a darting run and chip over Kawashima to complete the rout with his third goal of the tournament in the dying minutes.
Asked about facing Uruguay, Martinez said: “It’s going to be a really tough game, a fight, and we just have to maintain our focus and continue to work like we have.”
Japan should have scored a second equalizer in the 66th minute, but striker Yoshito Okubo blasted rightback Atsuto Uchida’s cross over the bar from right in front of goal with Ospina at his mercy.
Japan enjoyed more possession, but were overcome by the power of the counterattacks unleashed by Colombia, who missed several other chances.
“I have always thought and said that Japan were a really good team and we saw that when they played the Asian qualifiers,” Pekerman said. “Often today they played a very good game, they didn’t get the results they expected. They were facing a good Colombian team.”
Pekerman sent Mondragon on for the final five minutes, allowing the veteran of the 1994 and 1998 finals to make a last mark on the event as the oldest man to play in a World Cup.
Mondragon surpassed Cameroon’s Roger Milla, who played at the age of 42 in the 1994 World Cup in the US, and made a fine block in stoppage-time to keep out a point-blank effort by Japan substitute Yoichiro Kakitani.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
UP IN SMOKE: More than half a dozen riders crashed out of the race, with Marquez’s title chances in doubt after driving off the track with flames flickering from his bike Jorge Martin yesterday won a crash-filled Indonesia MotoGP to extend his championship lead, while closest rival Francesco Bagnaia limited the damage by claiming the final podium place. The win leaves the Pramac Racing rider 21 points ahead of his Italian Ducati rival, who finished third behind Spaniard Pedro Acosta in sweltering conditions at the Mandalika International Street Circuit on Lombok island. In front of a crowd of 60,000 in motorbike-mad Indonesia, the 26-year-old put his tumble in Saturday’s sprint behind him, canceling out the gains his title rival Bagnaia made after securing victory in that race. “Thank you Indonesia. I am very happy.
RSS