The upsets just keep happening in this wild and crazy World Cup. There is complete chaos thus far with Group H, specifically. The two sides that figured to be the favorites came up empty during yesterday's big matches in Russia.
The home nation's team, however, just keeps rolling. They virtually assured themselves of advancing to the next round with yet another convincing win, this time against Egypt.
So, let's take a closer look at the games from Tuesday, the 19th:
Japan 2, Colombia 1 - This was a result that I could not have foreseen.
Not that Japan is a bad team, or has never done anything impressive. Obviously, they have become regulars here at the World Cup tournament for a reason.
However, Colombia seems to be a team on the rise, and there was considerable buzz around the Colombia side and it's load of talent. They have climbed up the world rankings, and are currently ranked 16th in the world, and thus were expected to make short work out of Japan, a team currently ranked 61st in the world. Some people were expecting them to finally make a deep run into the later rounds in this World Cup. And although that still might happen, they certainly did not get off to the right kind of start in this tournament.
Japan managed to capitalize on a Colombia mistake very quickly in this game. Colombia's Carlos Sánchez Moreno collected a red card, and thus his side was playing undermanned from almost the start of the game. Meanwhile, Japan's Shinji Kagawa converted a foul into an early 1-0 lead for Japan. Awesome start, and awesome news for Japan, but not so much for Colombia and their fans, obviously.
The Colombia side did not panic, however. They responded more or less calmly, as would be expected of a team with high expectations. Indeed, they kept searching for opportunities, until eventually, Juan Fernando Quintero managed to break through with the tying goal in the 39th minute. It looked like they were going to rally from one man and one goal down to possibly win it, or at least tie it, and things were looking a bit grim for Japan.
But then, in the 73rd minute, Yuya Osako got a header to the back of the net to put Japan back on top, with time running out.
Colombia pressed, but this time, they were unable to capitalize. Time ran out on them, and they were handed a stunning upset loss to start off on the wrong foot in this tournament.
Senegal 2, Poland 1 - If the result from the Japan-Colombia contest was a shocker, then this game between 8th ranked Poland and 27th ranked Senegal had even stronger seismic activity.
Like Colombia, Poland also had high expectations for this World Cup. They had not qualified for the previous two World Cup tournaments, but had looked strong and been on the rise for years now. This led to some high expectations, much like with Colombia.
This, however, was not the start that they wanted, clearly.
The game was locked in a scoreless tie for what felt like a long time, until Senegal's Idrissa Gueye hammered a shot towards goal that accidentally was deflected off the right leg of Polish defender Thiago Cionek. The misdirection left Wojciech Szczesny helpless as the shot went past him and found the back of the net, giving Senegal a shocking early lead in the 37th minute. They then managed to hold Poland off to take that 1-0 lead into the lockers for halftime.
That was admittedly a bit strange, yet the strangest was yet to come.
How strange could it get? Well, Senegal's M'Baye Niang looked injured at some point, and appeared to be on his way out of the game. His substitute was standing by on the sideline, although the referees never actually made his replacement official. So Niang kind of just stood there and, at one point, raised his arm to signal that he was in. A very bad, careless pass by a Polish defender went almost straight to him. Then the Polish keeper, Szczesny, made a bad mistake in rushing out of the goalie area to reach him, but Niang just kind of popped it above his head and kept moving forward, while Szeczesny fell. Niang ran to the wide open goal that was yawning right in front of him, with no defenders in sight, and only one behind him. That was how Senegal took a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute, and you sensed that Poland was in real trouble by that point.
After that, there was just a sea of green jerseys vigorously defending Senegal's goal, and Poland was flustered time and time again. They just could not seem to get anything really going on this day. That said, it should be noted that some scoring opportunities were wasted by some careless passes and easily avoidable mistakes. I do not know how often a Polish guy would kick the ball well out of bounds needlessly, or would perhaps kick it right to a defender. It seemed that they made a staggering number of mental mistakes on this day.
Still, they did break through at one point, as Grzegorz Krychowiak gave Poland hope with late header in the 86th minute. The mostly pro-Polish crowd went briefly nuts, although they knew that time was rapidly running out. Senegal was able to milk the clock, and they were accommodated in this regard by more Polish mistakes, ultimately dooming Poland to what truly was a shocking loss.
Russia 3, Egypt 1 - The Russian side looks downright scary at this point.
Fresh off their dominant 5-0 opening game win against Saudi Arabia, the Russians entered their game against Egypt yesterday brimming with confidence. And after a slow start during a scoreless, defensive openeing to the game, the Russians caught fire in the second half.
It did not start in a conventional manner, however. Egypt's Ahmed Fathi accidentally scored an own goal in the 47th minute, giving Russia a 1-0 lead. That was the fifth own goal of this World Cup, and it should be noted that the all-time record for own goals in World Cup history was six in total.
Russia scored a proper goal not too long afterwards, when Denis Cheryshev gave Russia a 2-0 lead by scoring in the 59th minute.
Just minutes later, Russia's Artem Dzyuba scored another goal for Russia in the 62nd minute for a commanding 3-0 lead.
Mohamed Salah, Egypt's star, got his side on the scoreboard in the 73rd minute, giving Egypt just a little ray of hope. Ultimately, though, it was much too little, and far too late, as Russia cruised to yet another easy and decisive win.
The win almost assures Russia will advance to the second round. It will become official later today if Uruguay either wins or ties, although in most scenarios, Russia's dominant performance in these first two games will see them at least cruise to the elimination round without much doubt.
They appear to have a very strong side that is bursting with confidence at the moment.
The Colombia side did not panic, however. They responded more or less calmly, as would be expected of a team with high expectations. Indeed, they kept searching for opportunities, until eventually, Juan Fernando Quintero managed to break through with the tying goal in the 39th minute. It looked like they were going to rally from one man and one goal down to possibly win it, or at least tie it, and things were looking a bit grim for Japan.
But then, in the 73rd minute, Yuya Osako got a header to the back of the net to put Japan back on top, with time running out.
Colombia pressed, but this time, they were unable to capitalize. Time ran out on them, and they were handed a stunning upset loss to start off on the wrong foot in this tournament.
Senegal 2, Poland 1 - If the result from the Japan-Colombia contest was a shocker, then this game between 8th ranked Poland and 27th ranked Senegal had even stronger seismic activity.
Like Colombia, Poland also had high expectations for this World Cup. They had not qualified for the previous two World Cup tournaments, but had looked strong and been on the rise for years now. This led to some high expectations, much like with Colombia.
This, however, was not the start that they wanted, clearly.
The game was locked in a scoreless tie for what felt like a long time, until Senegal's Idrissa Gueye hammered a shot towards goal that accidentally was deflected off the right leg of Polish defender Thiago Cionek. The misdirection left Wojciech Szczesny helpless as the shot went past him and found the back of the net, giving Senegal a shocking early lead in the 37th minute. They then managed to hold Poland off to take that 1-0 lead into the lockers for halftime.
That was admittedly a bit strange, yet the strangest was yet to come.
How strange could it get? Well, Senegal's M'Baye Niang looked injured at some point, and appeared to be on his way out of the game. His substitute was standing by on the sideline, although the referees never actually made his replacement official. So Niang kind of just stood there and, at one point, raised his arm to signal that he was in. A very bad, careless pass by a Polish defender went almost straight to him. Then the Polish keeper, Szczesny, made a bad mistake in rushing out of the goalie area to reach him, but Niang just kind of popped it above his head and kept moving forward, while Szeczesny fell. Niang ran to the wide open goal that was yawning right in front of him, with no defenders in sight, and only one behind him. That was how Senegal took a 2-0 lead in the 60th minute, and you sensed that Poland was in real trouble by that point.
After that, there was just a sea of green jerseys vigorously defending Senegal's goal, and Poland was flustered time and time again. They just could not seem to get anything really going on this day. That said, it should be noted that some scoring opportunities were wasted by some careless passes and easily avoidable mistakes. I do not know how often a Polish guy would kick the ball well out of bounds needlessly, or would perhaps kick it right to a defender. It seemed that they made a staggering number of mental mistakes on this day.
Still, they did break through at one point, as Grzegorz Krychowiak gave Poland hope with late header in the 86th minute. The mostly pro-Polish crowd went briefly nuts, although they knew that time was rapidly running out. Senegal was able to milk the clock, and they were accommodated in this regard by more Polish mistakes, ultimately dooming Poland to what truly was a shocking loss.
Russia 3, Egypt 1 - The Russian side looks downright scary at this point.
Fresh off their dominant 5-0 opening game win against Saudi Arabia, the Russians entered their game against Egypt yesterday brimming with confidence. And after a slow start during a scoreless, defensive openeing to the game, the Russians caught fire in the second half.
It did not start in a conventional manner, however. Egypt's Ahmed Fathi accidentally scored an own goal in the 47th minute, giving Russia a 1-0 lead. That was the fifth own goal of this World Cup, and it should be noted that the all-time record for own goals in World Cup history was six in total.
Russia scored a proper goal not too long afterwards, when Denis Cheryshev gave Russia a 2-0 lead by scoring in the 59th minute.
Just minutes later, Russia's Artem Dzyuba scored another goal for Russia in the 62nd minute for a commanding 3-0 lead.
Mohamed Salah, Egypt's star, got his side on the scoreboard in the 73rd minute, giving Egypt just a little ray of hope. Ultimately, though, it was much too little, and far too late, as Russia cruised to yet another easy and decisive win.
The win almost assures Russia will advance to the second round. It will become official later today if Uruguay either wins or ties, although in most scenarios, Russia's dominant performance in these first two games will see them at least cruise to the elimination round without much doubt.
They appear to have a very strong side that is bursting with confidence at the moment.
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