COLOMBIANS SNEAK IN
HEARTBREAK: DISCIPLINARY RECORD COST SENEGAL A PLACE IN THE LAST-16
South Americans top group, Japan advance, thanks to fair-play rule.
Colombian Yerry Mina thumped home a second-half header to secure a dramatic 1-0 victory over Senegal yesterday that catapulted the South Americans into the World Cup last-16 and dumped their African opponents out of tournament.
Senegal only needed a point in their final Group H game to reach the next round, but defeat saw them miss out to Japan, who edged them for the runners-up spot by virtue of having a better disciplinary record.
It was the first time in World Cup history that a team was eliminated for the number of yellow cards they accrued in the tournament.
Both Senegal and Japan, who were beaten 1-0 by Poland yesterday, finished the group with four points and an identical record in all other respects.
Yet the Asian side ended in second with four yellow cards to Senegal’s six.
Colombia, who finished as group winners with six points, will face England, the runners-up in Group G.
Defeat for Senegal eliminated them at the group stage in their first World Cup appearance since 2002 and left Africa without a representative in the knockout stages for the first time in 36 years.
“Senegal doesn’t qualify because we don’t deserve it. This is one of the rules,” their coach Aliou Cisse said. “We have to respect it. We would prefer to be eliminated another way...
“We were fully committed and maybe because we were fully committed, we got more yellow cards.”
Senegal had been heading through until the 74th minute when Mina rose to meet a corner and sent a bullet-like header into the turf, which bounced up into the roof of the net.
It was a crushing blow to the Senegalese who had been the better side for most of the game and had a penalty award overturned in the first-half after a video assistant referee (VAR) review.
They looked set to take the lead in the 17th minute when Liverpool forward Sadio Mane went down in the area under a challenge from Davinson Sanchez and referee Milorad Mazic pointed to the spot.
The VAR system has not been universally acclaimed at this tournament, but television replays appeared to show Sanchez get his heel on the ball, before clattering into Mane. After reviewing his original decision, Mazic agreed.
Colombia got off to a poor start and suffered a blow early on when playmaker and talisman James Rodriguez was forced off injured, apparently a flare-up of a calf strain.
After his display in their last match against Poland, Colombian hopes had again been pinned on the shoulders of Rodriguez, who spearheaded their run to the last quarter-finals four years ago. –