Ghana can only have feared the worst when Luis SuĂĄrezâs number came up in the seventh minute. A day on from the 16th anniversary of one of the most infamous episodes in World Cup history, the Colombia forward who shares a name with the man whose handball broke the hearts of Black Stars supporters in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup returned to haunt them.
Not long after coming off the bench, it was the Sporting striker who provided the assist for what turned out to be the winning goal from Jhon Arias to set up a last-16 clash against Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday. Even if they couldnât find another goal that their superiority clearly warranted, Colombia were deserved winners and look more than capable of at least matching their previous best result at the 2014 World Cup when they lost to Brazil in the last eight.
âIt means a lot,â said their manager NĂ©stor Lorenzo, who was part of the Argentina side that were defeated in the final in 1990 and could face his compatriots in the quarter-finals if they can get past Switzerland. âItâs a very tough tournament with different temperatures and lots of travelling â really difficult logistics for everyone.â
Arias, who spent a disastrous six months at Wolves earlier this season before being sold to Brazilian side Palmeiras in February, is confident they can make history this time around. âWe have what it takes to dream, to believe, in reaching the final,â he said. âThe first step is dreaming and believing it is possible.â
This was Ghanaâs first knockout match since that fateful day in Johannesburg when SuĂĄrez and Uruguay prevented them from becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals. But this is a limited squad that has probably overachieved under the experienced Carlos Queiroz by making it this far. A lack of creativity in the absence of Tottenhamâs Mohammed Kudus was laid bare here as they failed to even muster a shot on target.
âWhatâs next for me is to have a glass of water and relax, refresh for the next morning and start to make other decisions,â said Queiroz, Sir Alex Fergusonâs former assistant at Manchester United who is coaching at his fifth World Cup.
With the yellow-shirted Colombia supporters vastly outnumbering their counterparts from west Africa, Lorenzo knew the onus was on his side to take the game to Ghana. But it was Thomas Partey who almost opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes as his shot whistled past the post. A suspected hamstring injury to main striker Jhon CĂłrdoba after he clashed with Jerome Opoku forced Colombia into an early change as SuĂĄrez â who scored 28 times in Portugal last season but has been used mainly off the bench here so far â was introduced. A distraught Marvin Senaya also had to be replaced soon after an incident involving Luis DĂaz when the Bayern Munich forward was adamant he should have had a penalty, although it looked more like a dive.
The change seemed to affect Ghanaâs organisation that was so impressive in the stalemate against England during the group stages. âThe moment Senaya came off, the team did not have the same discipline and organisation,â admitted Queiroz.
Predictably it was SuĂĄrez who found space down the right flank and he made the most of his second attempt to cross the ball by picking out the unmarked Arias at the far post. Teenage midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi was guilty of losing his man.
Another bad omen for Ghana was that they had failed to win any of their three previous World Cup games matches against South American nations, having also lost to Brazil in 2006 in the last 16 before being beaten again by Uruguay four years ago during the group stages. Chasing games is not how Queiroz has made his name at four previous World Cups and they were subjected to boos from the Colombia fans during one passage of play when they seemed reluctant to play a forward pass. Alidu Seidu, Senayaâs replacement at right-back, then gave away possession in a dangerous area and a better finish from DĂaz would have given Ghana a huge mountain to climb.
Not long after coming off the bench, it was the Sporting striker who provided the assist for what turned out to be the winning goal from Jhon Arias to set up a last-16 clash against Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday. Even if they couldnât find another goal that their superiority clearly warranted, Colombia were deserved winners and look more than capable of at least matching their previous best result at the 2014 World Cup when they lost to Brazil in the last eight.
âIt means a lot,â said their manager NĂ©stor Lorenzo, who was part of the Argentina side that were defeated in the final in 1990 and could face his compatriots in the quarter-finals if they can get past Switzerland. âItâs a very tough tournament with different temperatures and lots of travelling â really difficult logistics for everyone.â
Arias, who spent a disastrous six months at Wolves earlier this season before being sold to Brazilian side Palmeiras in February, is confident they can make history this time around. âWe have what it takes to dream, to believe, in reaching the final,â he said. âThe first step is dreaming and believing it is possible.â
This was Ghanaâs first knockout match since that fateful day in Johannesburg when SuĂĄrez and Uruguay prevented them from becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals. But this is a limited squad that has probably overachieved under the experienced Carlos Queiroz by making it this far. A lack of creativity in the absence of Tottenhamâs Mohammed Kudus was laid bare here as they failed to even muster a shot on target.
âWhatâs next for me is to have a glass of water and relax, refresh for the next morning and start to make other decisions,â said Queiroz, Sir Alex Fergusonâs former assistant at Manchester United who is coaching at his fifth World Cup.
With the yellow-shirted Colombia supporters vastly outnumbering their counterparts from west Africa, Lorenzo knew the onus was on his side to take the game to Ghana. But it was Thomas Partey who almost opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes as his shot whistled past the post. A suspected hamstring injury to main striker Jhon CĂłrdoba after he clashed with Jerome Opoku forced Colombia into an early change as SuĂĄrez â who scored 28 times in Portugal last season but has been used mainly off the bench here so far â was introduced. A distraught Marvin Senaya also had to be replaced soon after an incident involving Luis DĂaz when the Bayern Munich forward was adamant he should have had a penalty, although it looked more like a dive.
The change seemed to affect Ghanaâs organisation that was so impressive in the stalemate against England during the group stages. âThe moment Senaya came off, the team did not have the same discipline and organisation,â admitted Queiroz.
Predictably it was SuĂĄrez who found space down the right flank and he made the most of his second attempt to cross the ball by picking out the unmarked Arias at the far post. Teenage midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi was guilty of losing his man.
Another bad omen for Ghana was that they had failed to win any of their three previous World Cup games matches against South American nations, having also lost to Brazil in 2006 in the last 16 before being beaten again by Uruguay four years ago during the group stages. Chasing games is not how Queiroz has made his name at four previous World Cups and they were subjected to boos from the Colombia fans during one passage of play when they seemed reluctant to play a forward pass. Alidu Seidu, Senayaâs replacement at right-back, then gave away possession in a dangerous area and a better finish from DĂaz would have given Ghana a huge mountain to climb.
