As sharp as Samurai swords, Japan twice sliced their way through the Colombian defence to earn the first ever win for an Asian side at the World Cup finals on Tuesday afternoon.
Assisted by a red card as early as the third minute when Carlos Moreno did an imitation of a traffic cop and the ball hit his outstretched arm, the Japanese strode to a 2-1 win – the ease of which is not reflected by the scoreline.
Goals from Kagawa, who took the spot kick following the hand ball and sending off, and one from Osaka to seal matters in the 73rd minute were enough to see off Colombia, who scored their only goal in the 39th minute via the hard-working Quintero.
While the assumption is that 11 men versus 10 for almost the whole match would automatically determine the outcome, that’s not always the case. as it disrupts both sides.
To their credit, Japan kept their discipline and formation, letting the ball exploit the extra space until the gaps appeared.
They now wait for the next Group H game to commence in a short while: Poland vs Senegal.
We will be rooting for the African warriors, believing they will be the first from our continent to make an impact this time round.
Let’s hope they do a ‘Pole’ dance around their tough European opponents.
