Colombia's players celebrate jubilantly. Their bench runs on to the pitch. They've won again and are surely through to the second round of the World Cup. They made hard work of it though and Ivory Coast will feel they should have got something from that match. They nearly did, but Colombia were more ruthless. Still, they're in a good position. Thanks for reading. Bye.
Colombia withstood a terrific fightback from Ivory Coast to record their second victory of the tournament
Updated
Thu 19 Jun 2014 13.58 EDT
First published on Thu 19 Jun 2014 10.30 EDT
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Full-time: Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast
It's over!
90 min+4: Drogba is penalised for a foul on Yepes. It didn't look like a foul. But it should be enough for Colombia. Yepes is up and he's geeing up the Colombia fans.
90 min+3: So close for Ivory Coast! The creaking Yepes misses a punt forward and Drogba is through, but he can't reach the ball before Ospina, who slides out to put it out for a throw! Drogba was inches away from getting there first. What a frantic finish.
90 min+2: The first minute of added time is spent with Howard Webb trying to work out where he is. We have to wait while he works out what to do with a drop ball. Eventually he sorts it out.
90 min: Another stoppage. Gutierrez is down and Tiote has been booked. The board has gone up - there will be only four minutes of stoppage time. Sabri Lamouchi goes mad when he sees it.
89 min: Another cross from Toure. Yepes clears. Another ball is flung into the box. Who's there for Colombia? Yepes. Colombia then counter up the left. They've got two over on the right but Quintero, around 45 yards out and by the touchline, spots Barry off the line and tries to score! He almost does but Barry gets back and saves it.
88 min: Arias is outpaced and outmuscled by Aurier, so he brings him down just outside the area on the right. Nothing comes from Yaya Toure's cross.
86 min: Play is stopped so Yepes can receive some treatment on a knock to his knee. Colombia have used all of their substitutions, so he's going to have to continue.
85 min: Kalou fluffs a presentable chance to equalise. He was teed up by Gervinho, who had put the fear into Colombia with another dribble, but Kalou scuffed straight at Ospina from 18 yards. He had more time.
84 min: Aurier crosses again. Bolly flicks a header not too far over. Colombia would like the full-time whistle please.
82 min: Ivory Coast are all over Colombia now. They're getting so many men in the box. "Gervinho will be redeemed when he can do it on a cold, rainy night in Stoke!" says Paul Levine.
81 min: Yaya Toure almost pokes a pass to Aurier, but Arias is on hand to tackle him at the expense of a corner. Now, the last time Ivory Coast had one of these, Colombia scored. Not this time, though. Yepes heads away.
80 min: "At what point does Gervinho go from being much-maligned to much-redeemed?" says Robert Nease. "I think he’s earned respect at Roma, and doubly so now in Brazil."
79 min: Colombia bring on Alexander Mejia for Abel Aguilar.
78 min: Boka whips a cross into the area, seeking out Drogba, who got ahead of Yepes but failed to stick his head on it. Colombia are getting edgy.
76 min: Ivory Coast believe again. Drogba bustles into the area but his shot is deflected. The sting taken out of it, Ospina collects.
GOAL! Colombia 2-1 Ivory Coast (Gervinho, 73 min)
Hang on! There's life in this one yet and what a stunning individual goal this is from the much-maligned Gervinho, one of the finest you could hope to see at a World Cup. The winger received the ball on the left. He cut inside, beating one man with a turn of pace, before driving into the area. A fine swerve left another defender on his backside, and then he rammed a right-footed shot inside the near post from 12 yards, which seemed to take Ospina by surprise. The Colombia goalkeeper might have done better but take nothing away from that. It's not over yet.
73 min: Ivory Coast bring on Bolly for Die. And...
72 min: Colombia bring on Santiago Arias for Pablo Arias.
GOAL! Colombia 2-0 Ivory Coast (Quintero, 70 min)
Having scored from one of their own corners, Colombia have finally scored from one of Ivory Coast's. Serge Aurier went across to take the Ivory Coast corner but it was a dismal effort, truth be told, hit low to the first man. The ball was hacked up field but there didn't seem to be much danger, with Die in possession in his own half. However he gambled, trying to take the ball round Rodriguez, who diverted the ball to Gutierrez, who slid a perfect ball through to Quintero, who opened up his body and rolled it left-footed past the helpless Barry. The substitute has wrapped it up for Colombia. They didn't need a helping hand.
69 min: The corner is half-cleared but the ball is played back into the area. Toure's shot from the left is deflected behind for another corner.
68 min: Howard Webb puts down the magic spray and then it's time for Toure to smash his free-kick straight into the wall. He screams for handball in the wall, but Webb isn't interested. Back they come, though, and Aurier's cross from the right almost catches Ospina out at his near post, the Colombia goalkeeper reacting well to push it behind for a corner.
67 min: Didier Drogba tries to turn but he's brought down by Aguilar, just outside the D. This is an extremely promising position for Drogba, who will be having a shot here. Or maybe it will be Yaya Toure. Choices, choices. Before we get to that, though, Salomon Kalou replaces Max Gradel.
66 min: Ivory Coast shouldn't panic. They were one down against Japan and look how that turned out.
GOAL! Colombia 1-0 Ivory Coast (Rodriguez, 64 min)
This had been coming and it's a fine goal from Colombia's best player. Cuadrado fizzed the corner into the area from the left and James Rodriguez rose above two Ivory Coast defenders - two of them! - to bullet a header high past the helpless Barry, who was unable to stop the ball zooming into the roof of the net despite getting a hand to it. That was like Andy Carroll at his very best.
63 min: From a seemingly hopeless position on the left touchline, Rodriguez somehow hooks a pass up the channel and through to Gutierrez, forcing Bamba to concede a corner. From which...
61 min: Didier Drogba is on for Wilfried Bony. His first act is to clear a Colombia free-kick.
59 min: Cuadrado hits the bar! He stood Boka up and then tricked his way past the dizzy left-back, before thumping the ball goalwards from an angle. However Barry was able to get two hands to the shot and push it against the bar and to safety.
57 min: Colombia almost have a defensive meltdown and gift Ivory Coast the first goal. A lax piece of control in the area from Yepes presented possession to Gradel, who momentarily had a sight of goal, but he was unable to shoot before Yepes recovered with a brilliant tackle.
56 min: This would have been an outrageous goal from Wilfried Bony. Yaya Toure picked him out with a forensic, scooped pass that he played with the outside of his right boot and Bony watched it drop before trying to score with an overhead kick. He didn't make contact, though, but still, full marks for intent. Neither Toure nor Bony have done much, but they could have made the difference there.
54 min: Didier Zokora is booked for taking out Cuadrado from behind. He'll miss Ivory Coast's final group game against Greece.
53 min: Colombia have had to bring off the injured Ibarbo and introduce Juan Quintero. Ivory Coast will be pleased to see Ibarbo trot off.
52 min: Yaya Toure, who has been quiet, has his first shot of the game, a free-kick that he bends round the wall but round the post from 25 yards.
51 min: And now Colombia attack. Ibarbo zaps past Boka on the right and whacks a low cross into the six-yard box that pinballs around the area, before being booted clear.
50 min: Gervinho - that one he used to play for Arsenal - has Colombia worried with another run. He ducks past one challenge and then skips past Yepes, only to overrun the ball and fall over as Yepes hung out a leg. There was no contact.
49 min: Colombia maraud through the middle again, Ibarbo swapping passes with Gutierrez but then getting the ball stuck under his feet as he prepared to shoot.
47 min: Gervinho swooshes past Zapata, who sticks out an elbow to bring him down. That's not nice.
46 min: Here we go again. Colombia start the second half and immediately storm forward, threatening to charge through the middle. Boka stops them. "I´m following your min by min report from an internet cafe in Montevideo bus station (no TV), while trying to send emails, and prepare myself for watching England in a bar full of Uruguayans," says Neil Clack. "I suppose Peckerman and Pardew both begin with P, but I can't see any other similarity at all. Peckerman looks more like Howard Wilkinson than Pardew, in my opinion - and he did have a long stint overseeing his country´s (Argentina) youth teams too. They may have even faced each other at international youth tournaments. That would really confuse Lawrenson!"
Half-time: Colombia 0-0 Ivory Coast
Howard Webb brings an end to the first half. Both goalkeepers have been underworked.
45 min: "Howard Webb making it up as he goes along?" says Simon McMahon. "What does he think he is, a policeman?"
He's here all week, ladies and gentlemen. Seriously. I can't get rid of him. He's even here on weekends.
44 min: It's not a bad game but it could do with a goal. Failing that, a bit of thought in the final third.
43 min: Gervinho forgets himself and goes on a wee jink into the Colombia area. He's halted but the ball breaks to Gradel, whose fierce drive is blocked by Armero.
42 min: "Doesn't "Die skitters" play for Belgium?" says Fraser 'Frase' Thomas. Yes - it translates to 'The Skitters'.
41 min: When Ivory Coast have everyone back, Colombia don't have many ideas. They need space.
39 min: Donald Rett says: Being a bit pedantic, and not having seen the corner kick Law 17 states: The ball is in play when it is kicked and moves, the kicker cannot play the ball again. And… In the guidelines and procedures, it states the ball does not have to leave the arc… So…" Look, there's a strong chance Howard Webb is making it up as he goes along.
37 min: Another Ivory Coast corner leads to another Colombia break. Rodriguez tries to release Gutierrez with a chipped pass but Zokora is on hand to make a stretching, last-ditch clearance. Colombia leave two players forward when Ivory Coast have a corner. "ESPN radio just said that Yaya Toure's heart is physically one and one-half times larger than the average human heart," says Daniel Stauss. "I am so flabbergasted right now; that may be the single weirdest factoid of the entire World Cup."
36 min: Die skitters through a couple of Colombia challenges and sees his shot from 20 yards deflected wide for a corner on the right.
35 min: Mark Lawrenson says that Jose Pekerman looks like Alan Pardew's older brother. I wonder what Pardew's affectionate nickname would be for him.
32 min: Yaya Toure looked like he was about to go into turbo-charge and romp through the middle, throwing off Colombia midfielders like a lion swatting flies off his back, but Sanchez sticks to his task, digs in and eventually wins the ball off a stunned Toure, shoulder-barging him out the way. Timber!
31 min: Ivory Coast attack down the right. Aurier crosses but Zuniga heads into the air and Opsina catches it. And then promptly gives the ball straight back to Ivory Coast with a poor throw. Aurier quick-foots it past Yepes and then drills a low shot towards the bottom-left corner, only for Ospina to make up for his error and make a good save.
28 min: Gutierrez wastes an excellent chance to give Colombia the lead! Ivory Coast were completely picked apart by a magnificent cross-field pass from Cuadrado to Rodriguez over on the left. Colombia had a two-on-one situation and Rodriguez clipped the ball into the middle, where Gutierrez - who might have been an inch offside – made a horrible mess of his finish from six yards out. He swung with his left and it seemed to hit his standing foot and trickle embarrassingly wide. Oh dear. That wasn't very good. Even Diego Costa would have scored that.
26 min: That said, Ivory Coast haven't been troubled that much. It's an engaging game but we could do with a bit more goalmouth action. We're allowed to say that now that Spain have buggered off.
25 min: Tiote sends a rising drive over from 25 yards. Ivory Coast aren't offering a lot in attack. That'll all change when Drogba's on.
22 min: Colombia try to get away with some corner-based chicanery, but Howard Webb isn't having any of it. Zuniga walked over to the ball by the right corner flag and tapped it gently, before jogging away and leaving it to Rodriguez. Claiming that the corner had already been taken, he made off with the ball, looking to dribble into the area and catch Ivory Coast unawares, but Webb told him to go back and take it properly. I suspect it was because the ball didn't leave the quadrant. Remember Manchester United having a goal disallowed against Chelsea in 2009 when they did that? They were just too quick for the officials that day.
21 min: "On U.S. teevee Adrian Healy has decided that James Rodriguez shall henceforth be known as "J-Rod"," says Michael Plant. "Do you Brits have the same tradition of rewarding/punishing great play with egregious nicknames? Or is Adrian just playing to our presumed bad taste?"
He should be calling him Hay-Rod at the very least.
20 min: "I understand the expression comes from would-be ranchers with more money than experience, who swagger around in big ten-gallon hats but can barely ride a horse without falling off," says James Lynn. "All talk, no walk."
18 min: Someone in the crowd appears to have some giant maracas. Whoever it is hasn't stopped shaking them all game. Perhaps it's Cuban Pete.
17 min: Cuadrado burns some serious ground on the right, Ivory Coast caught out on the counter again, and his awkward low ball is uncertainly hacked over by Zokora. That could have gone anywhere. Instead it's a corner. That's cleared, but Colombia come again, Sanchez testing Barry with a firm shot from 25 yards. Barry held it comfortably enough.
14 min: "Where does the expression more Hat than Horse come from?" says Thomas Krantz. "I'm curious." I have no idea actually. I'm also curious.
12 min: A free-kick for Ivory Coast on the right, conceded by Pablo Armero. Toure swings it in and when it's punched away by Ospina, Colombia counter at break-neck speed. Only a poor pass from Rodriguez stops Cuadrado from running clean through on goal. Ivory Coast seemed to be utterly unaware that there could be a danger of a counter-attack from Colombia.
10 min: The corner is taken short and then clipped into the area, where a header is blocked. Ivory Coast half-heartedly appeal for a penalty, more in hope than expectation. No one fools Howard Webb that easily.
9 min: Colombia get behind Ivory Coast again, this time on the right. Cuadrado speeds behind Boka and into the area, but his volleyed cross towards Ibarbo is cut out importantly by Zokora. From there, the Ivorians counter, Gervinho winning a corner on the left. "Drogba is the catalyst that made the Ivory Coast move from just ordinary to a very good team," says Amit Gupta. "You don't have to score. Sometimes, inspiring is more important."
8 min: Another ball has been chucked on the pitch. Will people stop chucking balls on the pitch? We only need the one.
7 min: Howard Webb has to stop play because a giant inflatable ball has drifted on to the pitch. Yes, really. After some mild conflusion, Rodriguez deflates it and chucks it aside. Pepe Reina wouldn't have been able to do that. Darren Bent must be in the crowd.
6 min: But we don't have to wait very long for something to happen! The wonderful James Rodriguez pings a glorious pass over the top of the Ivory Coast defence from deep, looking to release Cuadrado. He lays it back to Gutierrez, who scuffs his shot wide from the edge of the area. That was a good chance. He should have done better but didn't hit his shot cleanly.
5 min: Not a great deal has gone on so far. A nondescript start, so I won't bother trying to describe it, you don't need to hear about the various midfield skirmishes occurring. Although now you know that there are various forms of midfield skirmishes occurring.
4 min: Didier Zokora is at centre-back for Ivory Coast.
2 min: The Colombia fans are making an ear-splitting din, as is their wont. "More hat than horse?" roars George Tong. "Maybe a massive ego and an immature emotional time-bomb but, he was key if not responsible for ending the civil war in Ivory Coast. More highly regarded players will never matter as much beyond the game. Still infuriating but more hat than horse, no."
And we're off! Ivory Coast, all in green, get the ball rolling. They're kicking from right to left. They give it away within five seconds. Soon the ball's out of play. Onwards and upwards.
And here come the players. Yaya Toure strides out with a cake under one arm. There are plenty of Colombian fans in the stands, just as there were against Greece. They're loud. "It's true that they often need some media training, and some never get the hang of it, but that pre-game snippet with Phil Neville and Gaby Logan shows one of the things that former players can add to the presentation of a match," says David Wall. "He just slips in casually that he'd been chatting with Diego Forlan before the match and Forlan had been quite open with him, in a way he might not be with the press. A connected man. Thought Danny Murphy was excellent in co-commentary yesterday, by the way. Hopefully Neville will have been taking notes for the next time he does that job."
Hansen's been here for 15 minutes and he's already announced that "nobody can defend in this tournament". Some things never get old.
"Drogba is the African Ronaldo, a one-man show with a well-balanced chip on both shoulders," says Justin Kavanagh. "Sure he was a great player, but look at his behavior in the past and you'll find a self-regarding cowboy who is more hat than horse."
In the past, maybe, but he dragged Chelsea to the Champions League in 2012 and so often turned up in big matches.
Alan Hansen's finally pitched up in the BBC studio. It's his last World Cup. Just his luck that the first day he's in Rio, it's tipping it down. It's not tipping it down in London and the BBC weather forecast says it's sunny in Liverpool. Can anyone confirm? Hansen's probably wondering why he bothered.
"Afternoon Jacob," says Simon McMahon. "I'm looking forward to this one. We should have a better idea if Colombia can go deep into the tournament after seeing them up against Drogba and co. rather than Scot .. eh, sorry, Greece. According to my Panini World Cup sticker book, the Colombians have one Macnelly Torres in their squad, although disappointingly I can find no mention of him in your team lines. Are Panini having me on?"
They've had you on. I knew Panini couldn't be trusted.
Team news
Colombia, who are unchanged: Ospina; Zuniga, Yepes, Zapata, Armero; Sanchez, Aguilar: Cuadrado, Rodriguez, Ibarbo; Gutierrez. Subs: Arias, Carbonero, Vargas, Guarin, Mejia, Balanta, Bacca, Ramos, Quintero, Martinez, Mondragon, Valdes.
Ivory Coast, who bring in Gradel for Kalou and leave Drogba on the bench: Barry; Aurier, Bamba, Zokora, Boka; 9-Cheick, Die, Yaya Toure; Gradel, Bony, Gervinho. Subs: Diarrassouba, Toure, Bolly, Akpa Akpro, Kalou, Drogba, Ya Konan, Diomande, Gbohouo, Djakpa, Sio, Mande.
Referee: Howard Webb (England)
Preamble
In the 61st minute, it was Ivory Coast 0-1 Japan. In the 62nd minute, Didier Drogba came on. In the 64th minute, it was Ivory Coast 1-1 Japan. In the 66th minute, it was Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan and that's how it stayed. Conclusion: Didier Drogba's still got it.
Pedants will probably point out that Drogba didn't actually score either Ivory Coast goal. Nor did he set them up. Serge Aurier was the architect of both, the raiding right-back's crosses turned home by Gervinho (for it is he) and Wilfried Bony, but we've started with this narrative so we're not going to be swayed off course now. Drogba. It's all about Drogba. And Aurier and Gervinho and Bony. And Yaya Toure. But mainly Drogba. It was his presence and his presence alone. That's our story and we're sticking to it.
All of which means that Ivory Coast have made a strong start to this World Cup. Unlike every other African side, they've won a game and after the wobble that saw them go behind against Japan, they were deserving winners in the end (I think – the match started at 2am, so there's a strong chance I dreamt about it instead). Another victory this evening and they'll be more or less home and hosed barring a spectacular turnaround. For the first time, a place in the second round is within sight.
Easier said than done, mind you. Their opponents today, all-singing and all-dancing Colombia, were one of the stand-out sides in the first round of matches, even if it was only against the reassuringly disappointing Greeks. They scored early, which allowed them to unveil their pre-planned celebration early, and generally made light of the absence of Radamel Falcao. They were solid at the back, 38-year-old Mario Yepes leading by example, strong in midfield and fast and creative up front. In a tournament of increasing possibilities, Colombia can go far.
All of which calls for: Drogba.
Kick-off: 5pm BST.
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