Right then, I’ll be off. It’s been a lot of fun, at least for those without a Polish connection. Bye!
Watched the players? Rate the players!
That Rodriguez pass to set up Cuadrado, though. Just great.
It’s been a goaltastic day:
14 - There were 14 World Cup goals scored today; the most on a single day of action (maximum three games) since 10th June 1990 (also 14). Bonanza. #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/xpeFNIXZqL
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 24, 2018
Here’s a match report:
Colombia are still third in the group, and must beat Senegal on Thursday to be sure of progress. But in their first genuine game, when they had 11 players on the pitch for the entirety, they were extremely impressive.
Final score: Poland 0-3 Colombia
90+5 mins: Poland are out of the World Cup! And Colombia are a bit scary!
90+4 mins: The match will be remembered for two lovely assists from James Rodriguez. Poland’s attacking, when they have done any, has been hopelessly humdrum. Colombia have brought joy and imagination.
90+1 mins: There will be about five minutes of stoppage time.
90 mins: Lerma’s left-foot blunderbuss travels about two yards before smacking into Goralski, who is feeling it.
88 mins: Poland’s performances here have not only resulted in their premature elimination, but they have significantly damaged Lewandowski’s street credibility. He has at least had one decent shot though, his 20-yarder hard and high and tipped over by Ospina.
84 mins: A right-wing cross falls kindly, and Uribe nearly scores with a backheel, which hits Bednarek, hits Szczesny and is hacked off the line by the former.
83 mins: This Colombia performance has put a whole new slant on the should-England-try-to-come-second argument. Colombia are far from perfect, but they quality players in key areas, work really hard and are fabulously supported.
83 mins: Poland have had some poor luck in front of goal. If they’d taken all their chances they’d only be losing 3-2.
81 mins: Chance for Poland! A right-wing corner falls a the feet of Krychowiak, beyond the far post, who controls and shoots straight into Ospina.
80 mins: Glik comes on for Poland, replacing Pazdan, who has been poor.
79 mins: Colombia’s attacking midfielders - Rodriguez, Cuadrado, Quintero - have all been excellent tonight.
78 mins: Colombia make their final change, as Falcao goes off, and Bacca comes on.
76 mins: It all comes from a Poland throw-in, deep in Colombia’s half, on the right wing. They lose the ball swiftly, Rodriguez runs with it towards the half-way line and passes low, curling across and out of reach of a defender and into the path of Cuadrado. He has quite a bit still to do, but keeps his body in between the ball and the two trailing defenders, runs into the area and curls past Szczesny!
GOAL! Poland 0-3 Colombia (Cuadrado, 75 mins)
What a pass from Rodriguez, and it’s all over now!
Updated
73 mins: Both teams making a change. Bereszynski is off and Teodorczyk is on, while for Colombia Lerma replaces Quintero.
70 mins: Quintero gets the assist, slicing Poland’s defence apart with a low pass from the middle of the pitch and putting Falcao, running inside from the right, through. The striker brings it instantly under control, runs clear into the area, and strokes it into the far corner!
GOAL! Poland 0-2 Colombia (Falcao, 70 mins)
A great pass, great control and a great finish, and Colombia are in control!
Updated
66 mins: “Why can’t two of the most creative players for Poland, Milik or Glik, get into their first team? Especially if they need to win this match,” wonders Mustafa Ali. Poland, as it stands, are going out of the World Cup tonight, and will surely roll the dice before the night’s out. That they have reached this point in their campaign without producing a formation or using personnel that gives their best player the chance to actually significantly help them is a mystery.
Updated
63 mins: Poland attack, they get numbers forward, and then they play a terrible long pass straight out of play.
61 mins: Bednarek is booked for bringing down Uribe.
61 mins: If’s Leo Messi’s birthday today. If this tweet is anything to go by, he appears to have been given a cake and a poster of himself:
¡#FelizCumpleaños capitán Leo Messi! 🎂👏 pic.twitter.com/1f3JXlEu2x
— Selección Argentina (@Argentina) June 24, 2018
58 mins: Poland, and Lewandowski, have a great chance! It’s a long pass from the defence, over everyone and into the run of Lewandowski, whose first touch with his left foot is good but forces him to break stride and check to his left, and allows Ospina time to rush out and block the eventual shot.
57 mins: A change for Poland sees Kownacki come off, and Grosicki come on.
56 mins: Another lovely move from Colombia. At the end of it Rodriguez passes inside to Quintero, whose shot from 19 yards deflects wide.
53 mins: Lewandoski just nearly touched the ball. He really got quite close to it.
52 mins: Quintero’s left-foot shot from miles out goes wide, and then a few seconds later Falcao’s right-foot shot from the edge of the area goes high.
50 mins: Poland work the ball from left to right, and then keep working it right until it goes out of play entirely.
47 mins: The second half as started as the first ended, with Colombia playing the ball about nicely, and Poland occasionally having possession briefly and meaninglessly. “Brutal match to watch if you’re a Pole,” writes Oskar Kostecki. “The way the team is playing feels endemic of the general negativity I feel is gripping the country. No direction, no plan, no positive changes. Uffff. Undoubtedly we’ll do OK in the last game once we’ve been eliminated.”
46 mins: Peeeeeep! They’re off! Again!
The teams are back out. Man the rigging! Or whatever it is they say on Polish navy frigates.
This is where the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, is watching the game: on a Polish navy frigate, surrounded by identiscarved crewmembers.
Colombia’s goal came from their first effort on target, and the only shot on target from either side in the first half. Colombia though have had 57% of possession, and have some class in midfield.
More importantly, here’s a knicker-based update from Darren Hilton. “If Colombia is anything like neighbouring Ecuador, then wearing yellow knickers is supposed to bring wealth, while red knicker wearers are looking for love,” he writes. “It is unknown which colour brings success in a World Cup campaign.”
Half time: Poland 0-1 Colombia
45+4 mins: Colombia deserve to lead at the break, and that’s exactly what they’re doing!
James Rodríguez (6 goals, 3 assists) has been directly involved in 9 of Colombia's last 12 World Cup goals. #COL #WorldCup
— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) June 24, 2018
45+3 mins: Poland will end the half with a corner, which Colombia deal with comfortably.
45+1 mins: There will be four minutes of stoppage time at the end of a physio-bothering half.
45 mins: What they do need, though, is someone willing to bust their guts to get into the penalty area when Falcao comes out of it. Too often he drops back and joins the existing four midfielders in what then becomes a 4-1-5-0 formation, which doesn’t help their attacking efforts.
44 mins: Colombia have significantly outclassed Poland in this half. They have run faster, fought harder, and played better football.
40 mins: Rodriguez is the creator, with a lovely chipped left-foot cross that is destined for Mina’s head from the moment it leaves his foot. Mina outjumps everyone else in the area by a significant margin, and with Szczesny rushing from goal in an effort to reach the ball, it’s sent into an unguarded net.
GOAL! Poland 0-1 Colombia (Min, 40 mins)
Colombia finally create an actual chance, and take a deserved lead!
Updated
39 mins: Rodriguez keeps running back to win the ball deep inside his own half, showing an appetite for hard work and smart, clean tackling that isn’t always associated with him.
37 mins: Cuadrado beautifully skills his way past two defenders, into the area and then to the byline, but his low cross is pushed behind by Szczesny.
34 mins: “The Colombians I’m with right now don’t know anything about a blue taboo,” writes John Stuttle, as Cuadrado’s long-range shot bounces harmlessly and emphatically wide. “However wearing yellow knickers is definitely good luck.”
Updated
33 mins: Colombia continue to threaten. Quinero spears a lovely cross into the area with the outside of his left foot, but a spoilsport Pole heads it away rather than allowing Falcao to give it the conclusion it deserved.
Updated
32 mins: Aguilar has been strapped in and carried off, and Uribe has replaced him.
31 mins: Meanwhile Aguilar is also down, and it looks like he won’t be getting up again. A stretcher is coming on.
29 mins: More action for the physios, as Pidzczek puts his head low to win a ball that an opponent is attempting to win with his boot. “I noticed Jonathon Wilson mentioned people are complaining about this World Cup,” writes Hubert O’Hearn. “Am I missing something? Honestly this is my favourite since 1990 - cracking games, atmosphere, England playing well. Just needs Ireland.” I agree, it’s started excellently. Now we need one big team to be eliminated in the group stage, two others to have an epic encounter in the round of 16, and it’ll be pretty close to the summit. No complaints here.
27 mins: During the construction of that move Rodriguez got comically taken out by Pazdan. Absolutely steamrollered.
Updated
26 mins: Colombia break, and the ball is worked from Rodriguez to Falcao, but with the Poland defence creaking he can’t find Cuadrado.
25 mins: Poland keep the ball for a while, to a chorus of furious whistles from the legions of Colombia fans. But they never get into Colombia’s half, and eventually it’s tossed long, and lost.
22 mins: Cuadrado’s low cross finds Falcao on the edge of the area. When the Monaco man isn’t in the box, though, nobody else seems very keen on replacing him inside it.
18 mins: Cuadrado’s cross is cleared. Colombia have bothered Poland’s area more than Poland have theirs, but without creating a shooting chance of note. Lewandowski gets the ball, and Davinson Sanchez arrives to barge him over from behind. This is Colombia’s clever tactic for dealing with him: he can’t score if he can’t stand up.
14 mins: None of this madcap action has been particularly good, mind. Chanceless madcap action is, however, always better than chanceless plodding action.
12 mins: It is 23C currently in Kazan, having been 31C early today. Can the players keep up this harem-scarem stuff for 90 minutes? Colombia’s chasing and harrying has been particularly relentless.
Updated
10 mins: This has been an absolutely manic start, especially for the physios.
8 mins: Mina goes down under pressure from Lewandowski, whose foot lands on the player’s fingers. The trainer gets called on again.
7 mins: It looks like he was acting, as he’s up now and playing on.
5 mins: Now Ospina is down, clutching his ankle in apparent agony after the most minor of collisions with Kownacki. He’s either absolutely fine, and play-acting absurdly, or genuinely injured.
4 mins: A brief delay while Pazdan is treated for a minor head-sore. “I’m surprised to see Colombia in blue shirts,” writes Simon Frank. “From my time there in the mid-90s i remember it was considered an unlucky colour for la seleccion.” Can anyone update on the Colombian attitude to the colour blue?
3 mins: Lewandowski has the ball on the right wing, and both Arias and Barrios slide in to send it behind for a corner. Double-sliding-tackles are quite unusual, I think.
2 mins: Poland attack from the off, and Kownacki’s cross from the right flicks off a Colombian head for a corner.
1 min: Peeeeep! They’re off!
Players out, anthems sung, hands shaken, it’s time to play.
Here’s a Robert Lewandowski tweet from the day of the draw last December:
Hola mi Hermano @jamesdrodriguez, I remember your great goals during the last World Cup. I hope you will remember mine from Russia #WC2018 #Russia2018 #PLCOL
— Robert Lewandowski (@lewy_official) December 1, 2017
Updated
The players are out. There are a lot of yellow shirts in Kazan.
Updated
Colombia have perhaps the most colourful fans at the World Cup. It’s hard to think of a country that can match their commitment to dressing up. I won’t be truly impressed until they suspend themselves from the side of the stand by their dungarees.
Ian Wright’s shirt in full:
"Why should we not go in confident we can beat them?"@IanWright0 and @GNev2 discuss England's rotation options against Belgium. pic.twitter.com/RNMCBimJFR
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 24, 2018
As Carl Worswick points out on Twitter, the last time Poland played Colombia, in a friendly in 2006, this happened:
On ITV they are talking entirely about England, and Ian Wright is wearing a fairly offensive shirt.
So James Rodriguez is fit to start for Colombia, as expected. For Poland, meanwhile, Slawomir Peszko has some lovely personalised shin pads.
The teams!
The team sheets have been handed in, and these will be our protagonists this evening:
Poland: Szczesny, Piszczek, Bednarek, Pazdan, Bereszynski, Krychowiak, Goralski, Rybus, Zielinski, Lewandowski, Kownacki. Subs: Bialkowski, Jedrzejczyk, Cionek, Milik, Linetty, Grosicki, Teodorczyk, Glik, Blaszczykowski, Peszko, Kurzawa, Fabianski.
Colombia: Ospina, Arias, Davinson Sanchez, Mina, Mojica, Aguilar, Barrios, Cuadrado, Quintero, Rodriguez, Falcao. Subs: Vargas, Zapata, Murillo, Bacca, Muriel, Uribe, Lerma, Diaz, Borja, Izquierdo, Cuadrado.
Referee: Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos (Mexico).
Hello world!
The last of the second round of group fixtures features the two teams that lost their first games and can thus afford no further missteps - with Japan and Senegal drawing if either side loses here, they will be instantly eliminated. Here are some facts:
- Adam Nawalka, the Poland coach, won the last of his 34 international caps against Colombia on the occasion of the teams’ first ever meeting, in 1980. Poland won 4-1 in Bogota.
- Poland have played Colombia five times, all friendlies, and in the World Cup have played South American opponents on nine occasions. Not one of those games have been drawn.
- The referee is Mexico’s Cesar Ramos. He likes watching movies, reading and playing baseball. His fondest memory is, apparently, “the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympic Games”.
This is what Nawalka had to say about this game:
We are expecting a very difficult match, a very intensive match. But let me say, I strongly believe that we will be victorious after tomorrow’s match. We were very angry after the [Senegal] match, so tomorrow we want to play at a different level. A very good change happened within our team. An additional energy can be seen. We have a lot of stamina and we’re sufficiently prepared to play very good football.
And Jose Pekerman has a four-point plan for success:
No1 thing, football is 11 against 11, this is our priority [to avoid a red card], this is how football works. No2, we want to be able to have a number of players in top shape. I’m talking about vital players. No3, we need to regain our confidence, the one we had coming to Russia. No4 is harmony. We all want to achieve the same goal, and we can feel that harmony now. We want to win every single duel. If we do that, we will have chances to score and win.
Both teams have star players. So here’s Colombia’s Santiago Arias on Robert Lewandowski: “We have to mark him man-to-man and be vigilant all the time.” And here’s Poland’s Piotr Zielinski on James Rodriguez: “This is the guy that is like the locomotive of their team. He is their driving force so he can be very, very dangerous.”
Right, so I think that’s everything covered. Strap yourselves in, let’s watch some football.
Updated
.jpg?w=600)
