Colombia advances, Senegal done in by ‘fair play’ tiebreaker
SAMARA, RUSSIA » The “fair play” tiebreaker doesn’t seem all that fair to Senegal.
The last African team standing at the World Cup lost to Colombia 1-0 Thursday, leaving it even with Japan on record, goal differential, total goals and head-to-head. The next tiebreaker to determine who would move on as the second-place team in the group — Colombia was first — was a new one: which team accumulated fewer yellow cards. Japan had four, Senegal had six.
Japan lost to Poland 1-0 in the other group match, which was played at the same time. When Japan realized that second place would come down to the yellowcard tiebreaker, the Japanese started stalling.
“I don’t know if the regulation is cruel or not, but I can’t ask my players to go on the pitch in order to avoid yellow cards,” coach Aliou Cisse said. “You have to be in contact with other players when you play football. This is how you play football. It worked against us.”
Yerry Mina scored the only goal. The 6-foot-5 Barcelona defender leapt above a pair of Senegalese defenders to head the ball hard off the ground, off Senegal goalkeeper Khadim Ndiaye’s hand and into the net, sending the enthusiastic Colombian fans at Samara Stadium into a frenzy.
Colombia, which reached the quarterfinals four years ago in Brazil, is the fourth South American team to advance, with only Peru getting eliminated. All five African teams failed to move on.
Japan and Senegal drew 2-2 in a back-and-forth match on Sunday. Japan beat Colombia 2-1 to begin the tournament, while Senegal beat Poland by the same score. If FIFA had not added the fair play tiebreaker for this World Cup, the two teams would have had to draw lots to determine which would advance.
“We would have preferred to be eliminated in another way,” Cisse said. “But as I say, it’s pity for us,
Colombia’s Johan Mojica celebrates at the end of the match against Senegal in Samara, Russia on Thursday.
it’s a pity for our team. But we knew the regulations.”
Many of Senegal’s players, including Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, would not speak to reporters following the disappointing loss.
Senegal’s Keita Balde was asked afterward if he knew during the game about Poland’s goal. He said his Monaco teammate, Colombian star Radamel Falcao, told him, but he didn’t get a chance to talk to his Senegalese teammates because he was so focused on the game.
This is the first time since 1982 that no African teams have advanced from the first round. POLAND 1, JAPAN 0 » Nice guys don’t necessarily finish last at the World Cup. Fair play, a newly implemented tiebreaker in the group stage of the world’s biggest soccer tournament, was put into use for the first time and Japan came out as the beneficiary.
Despite losing to Poland, the Japanese were able to advance because they received fewer yellow cards than Senegal, which lost to Colombia by the same score at the same time.
Once Colombia had scored in Samara, Japan knew it had done enough to advance even though it was losing late in its match. The Japanese players slowed play down to almost nothing, softly passing the ball back and forth in little triangles in their own end to waste time.
“My decision was to rely on the other match,” Japan coach Akira Nishino said. “I’m not too happy about this but ... I forced my players to do what I said. And we went through.”
URUGUAY VS. PORTUGAL: Cristiano Ronaldo, like Messi a five-time FIFA Player of the Year, has four goals in the tournament and leads the European champions against a Uruguay team known foremost for the bite marks Luis Suarez left in Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini four years ago. Uruguay is the least-populous of the round of 16 teams. SUNDAY SPAIN VS. RUSSIA: World Cup hosts outside the soccer powers usually perform better than expected. Russia should have huge support, making it closer than the 10th vs 70th matchup in the rankings. Andres Iniesta, who scored the goal that won Spain’s first World Cup in 2010, remains on a rebuilt roster that struggled defensively in the group stage. CROATIA VS. DENMARK: Tottenham past vs. Spurs present, with Luka Modric leading Croatia and Christian Eriksen sparking Denmark. Croatia was among the most impressive groupstage teams, beating Nigeria, Argentina and Iceland by a combined 7-1. MONDAY BRAZIL VS. MEXICO: El Tri fans hope for the elusive “quinto partido” — to reach a World Cup quarterfinal for the first time since 1986, which was on home soil. This is their best chance in years, with an attack led by Javier Hernandez and Carlos Vela. Center back Hector Moreno is suspended for yellowcard accumulation. Brazilian players are trying to atone for the 7-1humiliation against Germany in the semifinals at home four years ago. BELGIUM VS. JAPAN: Belgium was among three teams to go 3-0 in group play, joining Croatia and Uruguay, and No. 61Japan will be a heavy underdog against the third-ranked Red Devils. Star forward Romelu Lukaku started the Cup with consecutive two-goal games but missed Belgium’s group-stage finale (ankle). TUESDAY SWEDEN VS. SWITZERLAND: In its first World Cup in the post-Zlatan Ibrahimovic era, Sweden is looking to get past the round of 16 for the first time since finishing third in 1994. Swedish midfielder Sebastian Larsson is suspended, as are Swiss defenders Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar. COLOMBIA VS. ENGLAND: Harry Kane, whose five goals lead the World Cup, head a young England team that finished group play without a shutout for the first time. James Rodriguez ’s calf injury is a concern for Colombia going forward.