World Cup Day 15: Belgium, Colombia win Groups G and H taken at BSJ Headquarters (Revolution)

(LUIS ACOSTA/AFP/Getty Images)

Revolution

World Cup Day 15: Belgium, Colombia win Groups G and H

By Sean Sweeney

Jun 28, 2018 • 4:54 pm

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Couldn't keep up with the final days for Groups G and H? Don't worry, BostonSportsJournal.com has you covered with all the highlights from Russia in quickie form, complete with BSJ insight and analysis.

FIVE THOUGHTS FROM FRIDAY'S ACTION

Belgium... wins?: With both of their places in the Round of 16 secure, both teams rested players: England made eight changes, sitting Harry Kane, Kyle Walker, Jesse Lingard and several others, as if almost content to finish second in the group to Belgium. In the same boat, Belgium manager Roberto Martinez also made a series of changes (nine) which, like England's Gareth Southgate, indicated this Group G finale would be anything but two teams going for the jugular, and that the Red Devils, too, had no problem finishing second to the English. Belgium had a couple of tries at goal in the first 10 minutes, but with one yellow card to Belgium, the Fair Play separation was in England's favor by two points; a second in the 33rd increased the margin by three. Things changed, though, with Adnan Januzaj's strike from 16 yards away -- the first shot on target in the second half -- in the 51st minute, which lifted Belgium into first in the group, and made the Fair Play conversation moot: the game opened briefly, but with England in second, there were tries, but the shots were simply half-hearted out of the Three Lions. More on this in a bit.

Tunisia earns first World Cup win since 1978: Tunisia had a couple of solid chances early, but Panama keeper Jaime Penedo came up with a couple of solid saves to keep the Eagles of Carthage off the board. But while Belgium earned its second yellow of the game, it was Panama with its second goal of the tournament, and Jose Luis Rodriguez had Tunisian keeper Aymen Mathiouthi going to the other way, and as Rodriguez's double bouncer went off a Tunisia player and into the net unchallenged, it was the ninth own goal of the tourney. That marked Los Canaleros' first-ever lead in a World Cup. It lasted until the 51st minute as Tunisia pulled level thanks to Fakhreddine Ben Youssef's goal. Mathiouthi made back-to-back saves in the same sequence in the 63rd, but two minutes later, Tunisia made it 2-1 on Oussama Haddadi's cross to Wahbi Khazri, who thumped it into the net. It was Tunisia's first win in a World Cup match since '78, when the Eagles beat Mexico, 3-1.

Colombia wins Group H: Heartbreaking for Senegal in several ways. The Lions of Teranga had an early penalty reversed by VAR as replays showed that Colombia's Davinson Sanchez, with a hard slide in the penalty area, got the ball as Sadio Mane charged in on goal. Ten minutes later, Colombia pulled James Rodriguez from the match (he went straight to the locker room; he has been dealing with a niggling injury). Both sides would have good attacks, but once Poland scored, nothing was necessary as both would have gone through -- but in the 74th minute, Yerry Mina opened Los Cafeteros' scoring and scored his second of the tournament via a set piece, nodding it low -- all while Senegal's Idrissa Gueye simply leaned against the far post, right in front of Mina, not making a move. Three minutes later, David Ospina made a beautiful save off Mina's goalward header which would have drastically changed the Group H table: had Senegal equalized, the Lions of Teranga's overall goal difference would have been +1, and they would have advanced to the Round of 16. There were, however, no attacks of substance in the final 10-plus minutes, and Senegal bows out.

Poland wins 1-0, but Japan survives thanks to first-ever Fair Play tiebreaker: Great industrial ideas by both Japan and Poland were evident throughout the first half, but the first real highlight move came when Eiji Kawashima, the Japanese goalkeeper, saved Kamil Grosicki's shot from clearing the goal line with centimeters to spare in the 33rd minute. But just before the hour, a deep Poland free kick found the half-volley of defender Jan Bednarek, who surged forward and beat Kawashima at the far post to put the 10th-ranked nation in the world ahead for the first time in this World Cup by a goal to nil. And right when Colombia scored in their match, Poland's Robert Lewandowski nearly made it 2-0 at about the same time -- which would have knocked Japan out. Japan then played it safe in the last 10 minutes by playing some kickball, and the unattractive gambit paid off as it goes through on Fair Play points -- the first time this happened -- thanks to two less yellow cards than Colombia.

When does a loss feel like a win? When you have the easier path: Quite simple, and I won't mince words: England-Belgium, with 17 total changes to both starting XI's, was an absolutely craptastic football match. Boring, eye-hurting, dreadful football -- watching U6 soccer would have been more exciting. Both were playing to lose which, when you look at the knockout stage brackets, was the smart play. If no one scored, with both teams level across the board, it would have gone to Fair Play points, much like Japan and Senegal had earlier in the day. And before Januzaj scored, it would have been Belgium going through second: sure, as runners-up in Group G, the Red Devils would have had to get by Colombia, but then they would have played Sweden or Switzerland in the quarters, followed by either Spain, Russia, Croatia, or Denmark in the semifinals. A much tastier option than Belgium has now: they have the easier game against Japan on Monday, but their reward for beating the Samurai Blue, if it happens? The winner between Brazil and Mexico. And should Belgium survive that? You have either Uruguay, Portugal, Argentina, or France waiting in the semis. No wonder Roberto Martinez wasn't exactly thrilled when Januzaj rippled the back of the onion bag. And no wonder England didn't really challenge Thibaut Cortois after that.

OFF THE PITCH


  • The big news dropped during the morning window, and the worst-kept secret in football became official: former England international and former Manchester United/Everton striker Wayne Rooney has joined DC United here in Major League Soccer. He will NOT be available for selection when United comes to Foxborough on Saturday. The move becomes official when the window opens July 10.

  • Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne celebrated his birthday Thursday.

  • Egyptian FA head Hany Abo Rida suggests that the Pharoahs' fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- which floats on the calendar; one year it could be this set of 30 days, the next it could be different -- which ended the day before Egypt played Uruguay, adversely affected his country's team.

  • Mexican fans who didn't make the trip to Russia obviously partied pretty hard when El Tri made the knockout stage for the seventh consecutive tournament. In Mexico City, Mexico supporters carried one South Korean fan on their shoulders (he seemed pretty pleased in the video I saw), and made a beeline to the South Korea consulate, where fans toasted the Consul General, Byoung-Jim Han; they sang, "Korean, hermano, now you're Mexicano." They put him on their shoulders, and even shared tequila with him. "It's the first time in my diplomatic career that I see something like that. But the results are not important, what matters is the friendship between Korea and Mexico," Han told a reporter.

  • The results are important, Han. It's a sport based on results.

  • Despite knocking out Germany, South Korea manager Shin Tae-yong felt "empty" by the victory: “I feel great but at the same time I feel a little bit empty, so I feel a little bit ambivalent. Yesterday we said there was only a 1 percent chance and so I told my players it really was a last-ditch effort for them and I told them that they had to fight until the end... We’re not going to the last 16, but we did manage to beat the champions and the world number one team."

  • ESPNFC reported Germany headed straight to the airport from Kazan Arena. We can file that under the following tabs: prescient (did they check out of the hotel, not anticipating a win to knock someone out?), and escaping the scene of the crime.

  • With Germany's ousting, 2018 will be the first time England has a better finish than Die Mannschaft since winning the World Cup in 1966. The schadenfreude in the English papers -- and on Twitter -- was ripe Wednesday and Thursday.

  • Costa Rica manager Oscar Ramirez is reportedly unsure of his future following Los Ticos' exit.


STATS OF THE DAY


  • Through the group stages this year, we are at 122 goals scored. Four years ago at this point, we were at 136 goals scored.

  • Ben Youssef's goal for Tunisia was the 2,500th goal scored in World Cup history.


PLAYER OF THE DAY


Aymen Mathiouthi, goalkeeper, Tunisia




TOP PLAYS






























WHAT TO EXPECT ON FRIDAY... ERM, SATURDAY


Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi
Luis Suarez

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