World Cup upsets continue
Senegal takes out Poland, while Japan knocks off Colombia.
Senegal midfielder Mbaye Niang saw the signal from the referee to re-enter following treatment for an injury and jogged along the center line. Then Niang noticed Poland’s Grzegorz Krychowiak loft a backpass to Jan Bednarek, who hadn’t realized Niang was back on the field in Moscow.
Niang outsprinted goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to reach the ball about 40 yards from the net, knocked the ball forward and tapped it in for Senegal’s second fluky goal of the night. The
Lions of Teranga held on for a
2-1 win over Poland and opened the World Cup with a surprising victory — just like in 2002.
“You have to deserve your luck,” Niang said. "We were rewarded today for our work. You have to seize your chances when they are given to you.”
Senegal became the first African team to win at this year’s World Cup after Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia were outscored 6-1 in losses.
It went ahead in the 37th minute when Thiago Cionek’s attempted block of Idrissa Gueye’s shot deflected and wrong-footed Szczesny, who started over fellow Arsenal castoff Lukasz Fabianski.
After Niang doubled the lead in the 60th, Krychowiak headed in Kamil Grosicki’s free kick in the 86th minute, ending a streak of five straight scoreless openers for Poland.
“Two goals following our mistakes was something that we were very unhappy with,” Poland coach Adam Nawalka said.
Senegal is tied for the group lead with Japan, which upset Colombia 2-1. Senegal will play Japan on Sunday, when Poland meets Colombia.
Japan 2, Colombia 1: Yuya Osako had a surprise in store for those who thought Shinji Okazaki’s lack of fitness left Japan little hope of competing with Colombia.
Oasko’s gritty determination to set up one goal and his 73rdminute header from Keisuke Honda’s corner kick lifted Japan to a surprising victory over the Colombians in Saransk, Russia.
Osako won a bouncing ball to begin an early sequence that led to a penalty, put Colombia a man down and gave Japan a 1-0 lead when Shinji Kagawa converted from the spot.
Colombia had to play all but the opening minutes with 10 men after Carlos Sanchez received a red card for blocking Kagawa’s shot on goal with his extended right arm.
Colombia equalized late in the first half on Juan Quintero’s rolling free kick, which sneaked inside the right post.
Japan became the latest side to pull off an upset at the World Cup, joining Mexico, Switzerland and Iceland in earning surprising results. This scoreline was particularly unexpected in light of the fact that Japan had changed coaches shortly before the tournament, and because no Asian team had ever previously defeated a South American side in 17 World Cup meetings. Russia 3, Egypt 1: Russia scored three goals in a 15-minute span early in the second half to set up a win over Egypt in St. Petersburg, moving the host nation to the brink of the World Cup’s knockout stage.
Mohamed Salah won and converted a penalty for a consolation goal on his return from injury but Egypt’s first World Cup in 28 years could be over in barely five days following a second straight loss.
Ahmed Fathi poked the ball into his own net — the fifth own-goal of the tournament — to put Russia ahead in the 47th minute. Then Denis Cheryshev and Artyom Dzyuba scored in quick succession to leave Russia on course for a victory that followed up a 5-0 opening-night win over Saudi Arabia.
It was Cheryshev’s third goal of the World Cup, putting him tied with Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the scoring chart.
Russia’s place in the round of 16 will be assured if Uruguay wins or draws against the Saudis on Wednesday. Those two scenarios would also eliminate Egypt, which started with a 1-0 loss to Uruguay.