Match Progress
23 min Ghana have the ball for a chance, but a through pass is brilliantly intercepted.
21 min The game continues with possession maintained, though the pace has slowed. Colombia quickly move to the overlapping Mojica on the left.
Farhan (called “F” in previous post): “I don’t expect the Colombia-Ghana game to be a classic — no thanks to Carlos Queiroz. I suspect a lot of people will remember the Kelce-Swift wedding for having taken place around the time the Argentina-Cabo Verde (especially the latter) game was played out and not the other way around.”
Who gets married during the World Cup? I’m at least 50% Swiftie, but really?
18 min Ghana’s best hope might be that Colombia players cramp in the second half.
Carles Puyol, whose appearance was likened to Weird Al Yankovic in an earlier game, is present here as well.
17 min Colombia have succeeded where England failed, breaking through the strong Ghana defense and continue to attack.
Goal! Colombia 1-0 Ghana (J. Arias 14)
Our dreary succession of fouls is interrupted by an emphatic finish after excellent work by substitute Suárez on the right. His cross sails just over a marked teammate and lands at the feet of Arias, who is unmarked. He simply knocks the ball back the other way, wrong-footing the keeper.
13 min SUB for Ghana as a distraught Senaya cannot continue. Seidu makes his first appearance of the tournament in relief.
12 min Jhon Arias runs through Iñaki Williams about 20 minutes after the ball was gone. That is a foul. Yellow card issued.
11 min Colombia win a corner and take it quickly and short. If they were expecting to surprise Ghana, they did not.
Senaya goes off limping. That’s two players injured while committing fouls that were not called.
9 min Should that be a penalty as Senaya clotheslines Diaz? In most of the world, yes. But fouls seem to be inconsistently called.
8 min SUB for Colombia as Córdoba can’t continue. He’s replaced by Luis “Not That One” Suarez, known for scoring goals in Portugal.
Is this the shirt-pullingest tournament ever? There have been many torn shirts.
6 min Córdoba is in distress. After uncomfortable moments standing, he lies down on the field. It appears he injured himself while ripping Opoku’s shirt.
5 min Ghana seem content to yield possession. It remains to be seen if Colombia will fare better than England did in breaking down Ghana’s defense.
Vlado writes: “That Cape Verde performance... at one point I literally thought, ‘This can’t be real. I’m dreaming.’”
Imagine a 16th seed taking it to the wire against a top seed in the NCAA Tournament, except 1,000 times more important.
3 min Colombia’s first attacking idea is to ping the ball down the left for Luis Díaz. There are worse ideas.
1 min Chance for Ghana! Colombia aren’t able to clear, and Partey rips a shot from 25 yards just wide.
Quick personal note: It was at this stadium that I met a fellow journalist who had family ties to Kansas City. He was a fierce intellect who wasn’t afraid to take a stand. He is missed.
I was hoping to find an overhead shot to show just how yellow the stands are. Both teams wear yellow, but Ghana have the vast majority of the crowd here, and the anthem was sung like a crowd at a Taylor Swift concert singing along with ... OK, I don’t know which song would be a singalong at a Taylor Swift concert. I like Anti-Hero, but I don’t know if that’s a singalong. I sing Shake It Off after a bad day of refereeing.
Congratulations to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, by the way.
First email of the session, from someone just named “F”
“Why recast at all? Have Vozinha play himself! The man’s a rockstar. I wonder who will play Vozinha’s mother, though.”
In Mexico City, they managed to break down Uzbekistan.
DR Congo put up stubborn resistance, as they did against other teams, but Colombia took their second win.
Then they played a game against Portugal.
First, they scored at the death while playing without Thomas Partey, who was denied a visa into Canada.
Then they managed to stay awake in a plodding game against England.
And the outcome of their game against Croatia remains uncertain.
That was enough to advance as a third-place team.
As you consider what nuggets of wisdom to share over the next couple of hours, please answer this: When the movie on the Argentina-Cape Verde match is made, whom do you cast?
I’m thinking Idris Elba as Vozinha.
Quick Facts
Weather: An extreme heat warning in the Kansas City area has just been lifted, but it’s still 32 degrees Celsius (89 degrees Fahrenheit) with 61% humidity. If you don’t think that makes a difference, spend back-to-back days in Las Vegas and Miami.
Referee: Clement Turpin (France). The VAR lead is fellow Frenchman Jerome Brisard.
Head-to-head: This is the first meeting between these teams.
Best game ever played at the World Cup: Just ended. Wow.
Argentina have taken the lead for the third time against Cape Verde and are straining to close it out, which in terms of sentences I ever expected to write would probably be the same probability as “Beau Dure is drafted by the Boston Celtics.”
Colombia lineup: Vargas; Mojica, Lucumí, Sánchez, Muñoz; J. Arias, Lerma, Puerta; Díaz, Córdoba, Rodríguez
Subs: Ospina, Montero, Machado, S. Arias, Mina, Ditta, Ríos, Castaño, Gómez, Portilla, Suárez, Quintero, Campaz, Cucho, Carrascal
Fullbacks Mojica and Muñoz started the first two games and will be back in those spots. Suárez started the first two games, but Córdoba took that spot in the Portugal game.
Ghana lineup: Ati-Zigi; Mensah, Opoku, Luckassen, Senaya; Partey, Sibo, Yirenkyi; Williams, Ayew, Semenyo
Subs: Asare, Anang, Adjetey, Oppong, Mumin, Seidu, Baba, Owusu, Nuamah, Bonsu-Baah, Sulemana
Ati-Zigi came off at halftime of the 1-0 win over Panama, and Asare played in goal the rest of the group stage. Opoku was an injury concern after missing the third game, but he’s back starting alongside his replacement in that game (and Ghana’s goal-scorer in the 2-1 loss) Luckassen. Adjetey, who had started all the group games, makes way. Yirenkyi reclaims a starting spot after missing the final group game, replacing Owusu. Ayew and Semenyo have started every game, but Williams gets the nod after playing only 65 minutes in the tournament so far.
The last time the World Cup was held in the United States, Colombia were among the favorites. Carlos “El Pibe” Valderrama, Adolfo Valencia, Faustino Asprilla were notable players.
However, they fell flat. They lost to an unfancied Romanian side. Then their hopes vanished in one of the best games the USA have ever played.
Things were better in 2014 as Colombia blasted through the group stage, edged aside Uruguay in the round of 16, then fell to Brazil in the quarterfinals. James Rodríguez led the way with six goals and is still on the team. The win over Uruguay is Colombia’s lone win in World Cup knockout rounds.
Ghana also have one win in the knockout rounds, and US supporters may recall the 2010 game with mixed feelings. Several US players from that game are providing commentary this time around.
This match brings together two countries that have been on the periphery of the elite but haven’t quite broken through. One of them will take a big step in that direction in a matter of hours.
… that’s OK, we’ll wait. The entire planet is watching this game right now:
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at this match from an analytical perspective:
What to Watch For
Colombia have grown into their role as dark horses, topping Group K ahead of Portugal to set up a favorable last-32 tie against Ghana. While the South Americans have scored more than one goal in just one of their three matches so far, they have shown enough to suggest a deep run could be on the cards.
Ghana have exceeded gloomy pre-tournament predictions by making it this far. Carlos Queiroz has instilled doggedness in his team, which has shown defensive resolve in matches against Croatia, England, and Panama. Colombia could find them difficult to break down.
Player to watch: Antoine Semenyo, Ghana – If Ghana are to stand a genuine chance of making the last 16, they’ll need Semenyo in top form. The Manchester City attacker has struggled for service but is capable of magic with the ball at his feet.
