Early red card costs Columbia in loss

SARANSK, RUSSIA» Colombia’s Carlos Sanchez offered no explanation for the early red card that put his team a man down for nearly its entire game against Japan, but his coach and teammates backed him after the 2-1 loss.

Sanchez was called for a handball in the third minute on a shot that looked bound for the Colombian net. It was the secondquickest red card in World Cup history.

“We lost a match, but now we have to win the next and keep dreaming. We still have the same dream that we arrived here with,” Sanchez said. “We stumbled, but the team is fine. We have the same chances of progressing in the World Cup.”

Shinji Kagawa put Japan ahead on the penalty kick after Sanchez’s red card. Colombia leveled the score in the 39th minute, but Japan took advantage of its numeric superiority to pull ahead in the 73rd minute.

Sanchez said his teammates didn’t say anything to him after the game, calling the team “united.”

Striker Falcao Garcia declined to criticize his teammate.“What matters is that we still have two games that we will play as if they were finals,” Garcia said.

Colombian fans at the Mordovia Arena were not nearly as polite. “He spoiled this match for all of us with a stupid decision right after kickoff,” said Juanfran Valdes, a 35-year-old supporter from Bogota. “We should drop him immediately. No excuses for someone that destroys a World Cup opener.”

The quickest World Cup red card still belongs to Uruguay’s Jose Batista in 1986. He was sent off a minute into a goalless draw against Scotland for a harsh tackle on Gordon Strachan.

Senegal 2, Poland 1.

Senegal became the first African team to win at this year’s World Cup, defeating Poland 2-1 on a first-half own-goal and a controversial second-half strike by Mbaye Niang.

Senegal, back in the tournament for the first time since 2002, went ahead in the 37th minute when Thiago Cionek’s attempted block of Idrissa Gueye’s shot wrong-footed goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who was picked to start over fellow Arsenal castoff Lukasz Fabianski.

Niang, who had returned to the field from treatment, later beat Szczesny to a backpass and had an open net when he doubled the lead in the 60th.

Grzegorz Krychowiak, whose backpass led to Senegal’s second goal, headed in a free kick in the 86th minute to end Poland’s streak of five straight scoreless World Cup openers.

Both teams’ stars, Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Poland’s Robert Lewandowski, rarely threatened in quiet World Cup debuts.

Senegal is tied for the group lead with Japan, which upset Colombia 2-1 earlier. Senegal will play Japan on Sunday, when Poland meets Colombia.

Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia had been outscored 6-1 as African teams started 0-4.

Poland kept up its track record of dismal World Cup starts. It has four losses and three draws since beating Argentina in 1974.

Senegal President Macky Sall was in the stands to watch his nation’s first World Cup match since 2002, when the team reached the quarterfinals before losing to Turkey. Poland returned for the first time since 2006.

Poland fans in red and white were about three-quarters of the crowd, and they chanted and clapped throughout.