On Saturday, two matches of Group C took place at the World Cup in Brazil.
The first match of the day was played in Belo Horizonte, where the Colombian national team, missing Radamel Falcao, faced the 2004 European champions Greece.
At the beginning of the match, Jose Pekerman's Colombian team took the initiative, shaking the opponent's goal.
The active attacks bore fruit as early as the 6th minute. Juan Cuadrado, on the right flank, deceived his opponent and passed the ball to the center of the penalty area, where Pablo Armero was waiting. He sent the ball into the goal defended by Orestis Karnezis.
After the goal, the Greeks recovered and gradually took the initiative, but had difficulty creating chances against David Ospina's goal.
Perhaps the most memorable episode near the Colombian goal was recorded at the end of the half, when Panagiotis Kone tried a long-distance shot, but his shot was repelled by goalkeeper D.Ospina.
Colombia led the score 1-0 at halftime.
In the second half, Colombia dominated from the start, allowing the Greeks only sporadic attacks.
Pekerman's players doubled their advantage in the 58th minute. After James Rodriguez's corner kick, the direction of the ball was slightly altered by Abel Aguilar, and Teofilo Gutierrez, standing in front of the goal, just had to redirect it into the opponent's goal.
The scene on the field hardly changed after the second goal. As the Greeks tried to fight for at least a point in this match, more spaces appeared in their defense, which James Rodriguez exploited brilliantly.
It was precisely the "Monaco" club's defender who scored the third goal into the Greek goal during stoppage time.
Result:
Colombia 3 - 0 Greece
6' [1 - 0] P. Armero
58' [2 - 0] T. Gutierrez
90' [3 - 0] J. Rodriguez
Lineups:
Colombia: Ospina, Zapata, Yepes, Sanchez, Armero, Aguilar, Gutierrez, Rodriguez, Cuadrado, Ibarbo, Zuniga.
Greece: Karnezis, Maniatis, Manolas, Samaras, Kone, Salpingidis, Torosidis, Gekas, Sokratis, Cholevas, Katsouranis.
In the other Group C match, Ivory Coast faced Japan. After a hard-fought battle, the African team defeated the Asians 2-1.
The match started with a slight dominance by the Africans, but the well-organized Japanese team played well both defensively and offensively.
The first goal was not long overdue - in the 16th minute, after a precise pass from Yuto Nagatomo, the "Milan" star Keisuke Honda scored a great goal.
Only a few minutes later, the Japanese could have increased their lead when Atsuto Uchida, a fullback, broke into the ICC penalty area and shot straight at the opponent's goalkeeper.
The Ivory Coast team had a very real chance in the 30th minute. Arthur Boka scored a great penalty kick beside the top corner.
In the second half, somewhat unexpectedly, the Japanese couldn't resist the opponent's attacks. In the 64th minute, Wilfried Bony equalized the score, and just two minutes later, Gervinho put ICC ahead. Interestingly, both goals were scored with a header, and Serge Aurier provided both assists.
Result:
Ivory Coast 2 - 1 Japan
16' [0 - 1] K. Honda
64' [1 - 1] W. Bony
66' [2 - 1] Gervinho
Lineups:
Ivory Coast: Barry, Boka, Zokora, Kalou, Tiote, Gervinho, Bony, Aurier, Yaya Toure, Serey, Bamba.
Japan: Kawashima, Uchida, Honda, Nagatomo, Morishige, Okazaki, Kagawa, Yamaguchi, Hasebe, Osako, Yoshida.
Group C:
1. Colombia (3 points)
2. Ivory Coast (3 points)
3. Japan (0 points)
4. Greece (0 points)
