Pacific derby - Colombia v Japan

[Gangster Octopus]

Just a bit of water between them...

[Ray de Galles]

Colombia in yellow/white/white which I take to be a FIFA edict as Japan in all "samurai" blue.

[Kevin S]

They wore their yellow shirts four times at the 2014 World Cup and had white shorts and socks every time.

(Greece, Ivory Coast, Japan, Uruguay)

Goals from last time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAOBKnpmnOk

[Ray de Galles]

Yeah I'm well aware but that was the official first kit at the time (under the FIFA mono-colour or all light/dark edict or an interpretation of it by adidas) but they've since switched back to blue shorts and red socks for the first kit.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

If Sweden-Korea was rather one-sided despite Sweden being mediocre, I think this one could be a trashing and Colombia will [as we say in Sweden] show where the fridge should stand.

[Kevin S]

Yeah I'm well aware but that was the official first kit at the time (under the FIFA mono-colour or all light/dark edict) but they've since switched back to blue shorts and red socks.

Ah, thanks for that. It's weird that they're going to these kinds of lengths to differentiate now after that opening match where they made the teams play in red vs green (a no-no in my book).

[Wouter D]

Apparently, James Rodriguez is not playing.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

It can be enough with Falcao and Bacca

[Satchmo Distel]

Falcao was absent in 2014 IIRC so it will be interesting to see how his presence affects their tactics.

[Jah Womble]

Apparently, James Rodriguez is not playing.

Still injured, apparently. Thankfully Cuadrado was passed fit.

[Gangster Octopus]

First red...

[Arturo]

Blimey. Another penalty!

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Yes, Colombia, why don't you send forth even more guys complaining. I'm sure eventually the ref will change his mind about the red.

[Ray de Galles]

In all that chaos, did I spot some kind of keepers bottle-holder actually attached to the outside of the post?

[Arturo]

Nice pen. Shambolic start for Colombia.

[Jah Womble]

1-0 Japan - Kagawa's penalty is now the fastest goal of the tournament. (And preserves the lack of goalless draws.)

Too many spot-kicks for my liking, though.

[blameless]

Get in!

Utterly wanky behaviour from Colombia trying to put Kagawa off - first of all Sanchez refusing to leave the pitch for 3 minutes after the red card, and then Ospina whining about the ball not being on the penalty spot (it was).

[Viktor Boskovic]

Just got in from work to see Carlos Sanchez sent off.... Twatball-tastic!

[N est à?]

Great twatball trifecta from sanchez, penalty conceded, sent off, probably fastest red card of the tournament

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

So right now Scandinavia is on seven points and mighty South America with three nations won the world cup several times, is on five.

[Ray de Galles]

Yes, Colombia, why don't you send forth even more guys complaining. I'm sure eventually the ref will change his mind about the red.

I presumed at least some of them were, incorrectly, claiming it shouldn't be a red card as well as a penalty under the recent rule change.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Picking loon Falcao as captain is as strange as picking Sonny Corleone to negotiate with Sollozzo.

[Jah Womble]

I think we'll see a bit of that kind of behaviour - players hassling the referee to consult VAR, etc.

[Satchmo Distel]

So right now Scandinavia is on seven points and mighty South America with three nations won the world cup several times, is on five.

Why do South American countries do worse in European world cups than elsewhere? It was explicable before South Americans started playing in such great numbers for European clubs (and refs in 1966, for example, were very Eurocentric in interpreting player behaviour) but now?

Very early days, but winning England's group could now give you a Japan last 16 game, so maybe Belgium v England will now have something on it?

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

I presumed at least some of them were, incorrectly, claiming it shouldn't be a red card as well as a penalty under the recent rule change.

He's already showed it. I have never seen a ref changed from red to yellow. It's better to have a pep talk with your keeper and calm your troops down than waste it on the ref. Football has been played well over a hundred years and still some (players) think it will change anything surrounding the ref. It usually makes things worse, if anything.