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Colombia set up a last-16 tie with Uruguay thanks to a Rodriguez-inspired hammering of Japan to qualify with a 100% record

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Tue 24 Jun 2014 18.00 EDTFirst published on Tue 24 Jun 2014 14.30 EDT
Juan Guillermo Cuadrado of Colombia celebrates with teammates after scoring with a penalty.
Juan Guillermo Cuadrado of Colombia celebrates with teammates after scoring with a penalty. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images
Juan Guillermo Cuadrado of Colombia celebrates with teammates after scoring with a penalty. Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Photograph: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

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What a performance from Colombia.They made eight changes tonight. Eight! Some people wrote them off after Falcao was ruled out but they have so much going forwards. A 100% record in group games and they look like they have so many goals in them. Only Holland and France have been anywhere near as impressive. Thanks for your emails. Goodnight.

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90+1 min: Colombia have been far too good for Japan. Their fans ole every pass as Japan try their best to salvage another goal from this tournament but it's not to be.

Goal! Japan 1-4 Colombia (Rodriguez 90)

What a goal! What a goal! Rodriguez is sent into the area by Martinez and controls the ball just in front of Yoshida. He jinks once inside and then shifts the ball back outside Yoshida with delightful footwork, sending him spinning, the poor sap, before waiting till the time is just right to dink Kawashima. Wonderful. He's a player all right.

James Rodriguez chips the keeper. Photograph: Christopher Lee/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Lee/Getty Images
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87 min: The players have changed but Colombia's style of play hasn't. They are so lethal on the break. Like a counter-punching boxer. Japan have replaced Kagawa with Kiyotake. Kagawa's played well tonight, but his quality hasn't been matched by enough of his team-mates, bar Honda.

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85 min: And now for a lovely World Cup moment. Colombia take off Ospina and replace him with their legendary goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon who, at 43 years old, becomes the oldest-ever World Cup player, beating Roger Milla's record. Ospina gives him a lovely hug on the touchline and the Colombian fans sing his name with gusto. Very nice.

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Goal! Japan 1-3 Colombia (Martinez 81)

A brilliant, brilliant goal. Rodriguez, on the break, picks a ball up that is played slightly behind him. He waits for a defender to close him down, shapes to take the ball past him and then cushions a pass down the inside-right channel for Martinez to curl home around Ospina and send Japan packing.

Jackson Martinez bags the third goal. Photograph: Christopher Lee/Getty Images Photograph: Christopher Lee/Getty Images
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78 min: Rodriguez picks the ball up in the centre circle and flicks a delicious little ball off with his left boot to Ramos. He runs forwards and turns inside, spying Martinez on the far right with no one around him, he plays the ball across, but it's a dreadful pass, scuffed off his boot and easily cut out by a returning Japanese defender. The jig looks to be up for Japan.

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75 min: Yamaguchi drifts a ball to the far edge of the penalty area. Kagawa dampens it and lays it off to Yamaguchi. He switches the ball to his right foot and fizzes a shot at Ospina, but the goalkeeper gets his body behind it and Colombia rest easy.

73 min: Over in the other game it's Greece 1-1 Ivory Coast. Bony scored that one. So Ivory Coast are going through now. That won't have added any extra pep to these tired Japanese legs.

71 min: Colombia expose Japan with a razor-sharp break, Guarin rampaging down the left and sliding a cross over to Rodriguez. His shot is blocked and then Martinez has a stab but it's deflected wide for a corner. It was a poor stab. Didn't connect with it at all.

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69 min: Japan are in control here. They're quick to win back possession and get the ball forwards at the first opportunity. Honda and Kagawa are growing in influence too.

67 min: Aoyama was replaced by Yamaguchi a few moments ago. And Okazaki, the goalscorer, is off with Kakitani on in his stead.

65 min: Japan play a lovely one-two on the right in the sharpest bit of play from them all night. Okazaki whips the ball in to Okubo at the near post, eight yards out, but he fizzes his shot over with his instep. It looks like a bad miss, but the ball came into him so fast it seemed inevitable it would rise up.

63 min: Honda hammers a dipping shot at goal, but it's palmed away by Ospina, who didn't look comfortable with that. Made a meal of it really.

62 min: Guarin is booked for a clumsy tackle on Kagawa who is trying trying to heave his team back into it. Honda stands over it 35 yards out …

59 min: Balanta should be sent off for a clear elbow to Okazaki's hooter. He was trying to hold the winger off in the corner and swung his arm back sharply. He's lucky the referee, who has seen most things tonight, missed that.

57 min: Japan's No10, Kagawa, tries to drag his team back into it with some nifty footwork of his own on the edge of the box, but after shifting the ball to his left foot his shot is driven a couple of feet over.

Goal! Japan 1-2 Colombia (Rodriguez 55)

It was coming. Martinez drives home from 15 yards on the left-hand side of the penalty area but this goal was all down to Rodriguez's brilliant assist, collecting the ball in the tightest of spaces between two Japan defenders, shaping to shoot, and then nicking the ball off to his left with a flash of his toes for his team-mate to score.

Colombia's forward Jackson Martinez scores. Photograph: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images
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53 min: Ooh! And this is a lovely delivery from Rodriguez, swung in with pace to the back post, but it hops up as Carbonero connects with it and the ball comes off his ankle and goes over.

52 min: Japan have barely touched the ball this half. Okazaki, perhaps frustrated, gives away a needless free-kick over by the left touchline. Guarin and Rodriguez stand over it.

50 min: Rodriguez shows a flash of lightning footwork with a run at the Japan defence, twisting left and right and then thumping a shot into a defender and out for a corner. Guarin has a decent chance to shoot off the resulting corner but chooses not to. Carbonero lofts a ball to Martinez at the backpost, but he's offside.

48 min: Japan have played an awful lot of long balls in this match. Yoshida, particularly, has been hitting some aimless passes forwards. Another one gives possession straight back to Colombia and invites pressure.

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Second half

45 min: Rodriguez shows lovely footwork to win a free-kick and gives Japan a taste of what they may have to deal with this half.

Colombia substitutions. Cuadrado off and Carbonero on. And Quintero off and Rodriguez on. That's bad news for Japan. Rodriguez has been very impressive in the other two games.

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I may have mentioned that Samaras scored that Greece goal. It was, in fact, Samaris. Apologies. My colleague, Ian McCourt, yelped what sounded like Samaras at me when it went in. He says 'isssss' like 'assssss'.

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An email from Seb Peel in Japan!

I got up at 5am to watch the match here in Yokohama, Japan, so I'm hoping for a Japan win! The goal just before half time made the Japanese people around me very happy. The consensus seems to be that Aoyama has played better than Yamaguchi in central midfield, but that Yamaguchi will probably come on in the second half, maybe to replace Okubo, who I haven't been that impressed by so far. Now that Greece are winning Japan have a real chance, though I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much."

At last, a replay! And it was Honda who made his way up the right wing, cut inside sharply, and whipped a lovely ball into Okazaki, who stooped behind him and did brilliantly to steer it home with his head.

Never give up! This man believes Japan can still qualify. Just look at him. Look at him!

Never give up!
Never give up! Photograph: Dolores Ochoa/AP Photograph: Dolores Ochoa/AP

Goal! Japan 1-1 Colombia (Okazaki 45)

Well, that was a surprise. Right on the whistle Okazaki steals in at the near post and heads into the corner. Ospina gets a hand to it but can't keep it out. No replay of this one (thanks BBC3), so I didn't see who supplied the cross.

Japan's Shinji Okazaki (right) scores the equalizer. Photograph: GERRY PENNY/EPA Photograph: GERRY PENNY/EPA
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43 min: Greece lead 1-0. Samaris, on as a sub, scored that one. Not Samaras, of course.

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40 min: Martinez should put Colombia 2-0 up but he drags his shot wide from 15 yards after some lovely buildup play in which he was picked out by Ramos on the edge of the box. Kawashima would have got nowhere near it.

39 min: Konno gives away possession sloppily at the back (it's not his night) but Quintero doesn't make the most of the free hit and drags his shot wide. That could have been costly.

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38 min: Japan, as expected before the match, are dominating possession but, as expected before the match, don't look particularly threatening with it. Okubo tries an overhead kick from 10 yards, after a lofted cross from Okazaki, but he's no Captain Tsubasa. But then, who is? It goes high up into the stand.

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34 min: "When there is a clear cut penalty why do players surround and harass the referee?" asks JR in Illinois. "In this particular case I suppose I could understand his team-mates questioning the referee but seriously, what on earth could Konno have been complaining about?" I think it's muscle memory. It's the same with throw-ins, corners, goal-kicks, you name it. There's always something to be gained from putting pressure on referees, as far as pros are concerned, too.

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32 min: He whips it, viciously, left to right, taking the wall out of the equation, but just a couple of inches wide of Ospina's left post. Ospina was worried there though. He was right over towards it.

30 min: Honda's knee injuries haven't half stolen some of his pace. It's a shame. He used to be such a dynamic player. He's been involved in much of Japan's buildup play tonight and he's about to take a free-kick here too. From 30 yards, left of centre

28 min: A dive! By a Colombian in the penalty area. It wasn't clear who, all I saw were arms flung back and a flash of yellow with barely a Japan player near him. Lawro didn't like it. He doesn't like much though does he. The big grump.

26 min: Japan are trying to make the short corner fashionable again. It's not worked yet, but it might do. It's annoying the hell out of the Colombian defenders who, in this searing heat, would probably prefer to just stay in the box and head things clear rather than have to leg it out to close down space.

25 min: Great save! Kagawa, who is Japan's most dangerous player by far, jinks inside Mejia on the edge of the box and shoots low and hard towards the bottom-left corner but Ospina, at full stretch, gets a strong palm to it and forces it out for a corner.

24 min: Okazaki shows some neat footwork on the right to evade the challenge of Armero and get a clear run to the edge of the box. But he's muscled out of possession far too easily as he tries to be clever and twist inside and outside the covering Balanta.

23 min: … but he belts it into the wall and fells Mejia in the process, who is left rubbing his deflated lungs.

22 min: Japan win a free-kick 30 yards out and slightly to the right of centre. Honda stands over it …

19 min: That's a huge blow for Japan, who were starting to dominate midfield and looked the more likely to score. That was a dire decision by Konno. Japan look urgent now, mind.

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Goal! Japan 0-1 Colombia (Cuadrado 17 pen)

The Fiorentina winger absolutely hammers it – think Lineker against Cameroon – down the middle, with Kawashima diving to his right and out of the way. Smart move. It was a rocket.

Colombia's Juan Cuadrado scores the opening goal. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
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Penalty!

Konno attempts to play the ball but gets a chunk of Ramos's ankle and it's a clear penalty. Naive in the extreme.

Japan's Yasuyuki Konno fouls Colombia's Adrian Ramos to give away a penalty. Photograph: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP Photograph: Thanassis Stavrakis/AP
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14 min: Japan have come to life. In fact the game has come to life in the last couple of minutes. Ospina is forced into two saves from long-range strikes. Kagawa is starting to find space between Japan's defence and midfield too.

12 min: Yoshida is complaining that he was kicked in the shin but replays show he was just handed off. Strange. Yoshida sounds a bit like Yoshimi which means I can embed this.

11 min: This is scrappy. Japan win a corner after going route one and forcing Valdes to head behind.

Japan's forward Shinji Okazaki (right) vies with Colombia's defender Carlos Valdes. Photograph: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: JUAN BARRETO/AFP/Getty Images
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9 min: Kagawa (remember him?) controls wonderfully with his chest in the centre circle and volleys a sharp pass into Okubo's feet. He holds off his marker and plays a ball inside to Okazaki, who returns the pass, but Okubo is off balance as he shoots and it trickles across the six-yard box and is easily cleared.

6 min: It's not whipped in to the far post. It's crashed into the wall by Honda and then lands safely into the hands of Ospina. I stayed with Honda's godfather in Japan. He lives in Kyoto and is French. He sweats a lot too. Maybe that's because Kyoto summers are hot though.

5 min: Japan finally get a foot in the game, showing some neat interplay to work themselves to within 10 yards of the penalty area, where Hasebe is tripped by Guarin for a free-kick in a dangerous area. I expect it will be whipped in to the far post.

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4 min: Quintero looks very sharp here on the left and the central midfield pairing of Guarin and Mejia are looking to get him involved whenever they can. As for Japan, they need to look lively sooner rather than later.

2 min: The Colombian reserves look quite handy, going on the early showings. Martinez and Quintero try to link up, with a deft backheel but Japan snuff out the danger.

You may or may not know this dept, courtesy of Gary Carney:

Has there been any word from Brazil as to how much of Japan's support in the stands has been coming from that country's Nikkei community? (The Japanese-Brazilian population is over one and a half million strong, making it the largest of Japanese descent anywhere outside of Japan itself. More than a few second- or third-generation Nikkeis have been going to Japan in return.)

I'm sure that many of their fans have flown in from Japan for the occasion. But I'd be curious to see how much, if any, support they have picked up from those of Japanese descent living in the host country.

Also, if you wish to say "thank you" to a Japanese-Brazilian, do you say "obrigado gozaimasu"? (Sorry about that one...)

Readers?

And now for Colombia's jaunty number. Imagine it sung very, very loud by thousands of Colombians in the stadium, who are outnumbering the Japanese by a huge amount. Here it is, sung by a bloke who looks like he belongs in 1987.

The teams trot out on to the pitch. It's time for Japan's anthem. Some call it sombre. Some call it beautiful. I'd edge towards the latter.

So no Rodriguez tonight for Colombia, which I'm a bit disappointed about. I was looking forward to seeing him again. But I'm interested in seeing how Jackson Martinez performs. He's scored shedloads for Porto in the last couple of seasons. Also, Cuadrado was very impressive against Ivory Coast. Rapid.

Has anyone ever got into one of the electric baths in Japan? I tried it once. I got half a foot in before I thought I was having a seizure. What are the benefits of mild electrocution?

Team news!

Japan: 1-Eiji Kawashima; 2-Atsuto Uchida, 15-Yasuyuki Konno, 22-Maya Yoshida, 5-Yuto Nagatomo; 17-Makoto Hasebe, 14-Toshihiro Aoyama; 10-Shinji Kagawa, 4-Keisuke Honda, 9-Shinji Okazaki; 13-Yoshito Okubo

Substitutes: 3-Gotoku Sakai, 6-Masato Morishige, 7-Yasuhito Endo, 8-Hiroshi Kiyotake, 11-Yoichiro Kakitani, 12-Shusaku Nishikawa, 16-Hotaru Yamaguchi, 18-Yuya Osako, 19-Masahiko Inoha, 20-Manabu Saito, 21-Hiroki Sakai, 23-Shuichi Gonda

Colombia: 1-David Ospina; 4-Santiago Arias, 16-Eder Alvarez Balanta, 7-Pablo Armero, 23-Carlos Valdes; 13-Fredy Guarin, 15-Alexander Mejia, 11-Juan Cuadrado, 20-Juan Quintero; 19-Adrian Ramos, 21-Jackson Martinez

Substitutes: 2-Cristian Zapata, 3-Mario Yepes, 5-Carlos Carbonero, 6-Carlos Sanchez, 8-Abel Aguilar, 9-Teofilo Gutierez, 10-James Rodriguez, 12-Camilo Vargas, 14-Victor Ibarbo, 17-Carlos Bacca, 18-Camilo Zuniga, 22-Faryd Mondragon

The ref: Pedro Proenca (Portugal)

In case you've had your head in a nuclear bunker over the last hour you may be aware of an alleged biting incident by a Liverpool and Uruguay striker. Anyway, Fifa are to investigate it.

Fifa has announced it will investigate the Luis Suarez alleged biting incident with Liverpool's Uruguay striker likely to face a lengthy ban if found guilty. Suarez appeared to have bit Italy's Giorgio Chiellini towards the end of Uruguay's 1-0 win, leaving teeth-marks on his shoulder. A Fifa spokesperson told Press Association Sport: "We are awaiting the official match reports and will gather all the necessary elements in order to evaluate the matter." Fifa's disciplinary code sets a maximum ban of 24 matches or two years, but the longest ban in World Cup history was eight games for Italy's Mauro Tassotti for breaking Spain's Luis Enrique's nose in 1994 with an elbow.

Hello, hola, konnichiwa. Colombia have been great fun at this tournament. Japan? Well, not so much. As it stands in group C, Colombia are through on six points, Ivory Coast are second on three points and Japan and Greece are third and fourth respectively on one point. So, there's still hope for Alberto Zaccheroni's side. If they beat Colombia, who are expected to make a number of changes, and Greece beat Ivory Coast, they are through – providing Greece don't hand the Africans the mother of all beatings. If Greece draw with Ivory Coast, then Japan will need to win by two or more goals to reach the last 16. Clear? Didn't think so. Japan have never beaten a South American team in the World Cup. The two most recent meetings don't tell us much either. Colombia beat Japan 1-0 in the Confederations Cup in 2003. And in 2007 a match in the Kirin Cup, which is actually a thing, drip, drip, dripped to a 0-0 draw.

Japan are fond of hogging the ball. Unfortunately they haven't done much with it so far this tournament. Their better players, Shinji Kagawa and Keisuke Honda, have had disappointing seasons domestically and have come to Brazil somewhat undercooked. Kagawa, particularly, has been poor and was dropped against Greece. This stat, against a team with 10 men for much of the game, is quite damning.

Colombia are deadly on the counterattack. They have had less possession than both Greece and Ivory Coast yet run out winners in both matches with razor-sharp attacking play. They've played with a lot of width too and that will probably be the case again tonight, with Cuadrado and Ibarbo hugging the flanks. Jackson Martínez is likely to start in attack too, with the impressive James Rodriguez roaming in the No10 role, where he is so difficult to pick up. But, who knows? Maybe none of those players will start and this text will be redundant. Teams to follow soon …

Happy Colombia fans

Colombia
Whoop! Photograph: Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images Photograph: Eitan Abramovich/AFP/Getty Images

Bonkers Japan fans!

Japan fans
How much would you have to be paid to go to the match looking like this? Photograph: Sipa USA/REX Photograph: Sipa USA/REX

Prediction: Colombia 2-0 Japan

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