Interesting thing with this draw is that the loser in the Poland- Colombia match is out. I'm half hoping for a Colombia win so that Japan faces an already eliminated Poland. Also, watch overrated European sides go down is always good fun!
Small recap: If Poland / Colombia draw 0:0 or 1:1 that means both Senegal and Japan will progress even if they lose the last match by 1 goal.
The picture in this group will clarify itself more after Colombia - Poland play. For now, the group is still wide open even if I believe Colombia is in trouble and will not advance.
Why is Colombia in trouble? They are not in more trouble than Poland. Two wins ensure progress. If Colombia can bring his PS on the pitch they can easily win the two remaining games.
Oh please. The Senegalese player tried to pull a Ronaldo and sent it skyward. There wasn't any Japanese clearance. Maybe then didn't show it because the CR was standing 8 yards away staring straight at it and the AR was in line to watch as well, and the VARs were watching and NONE of them saw a damn thing, but you're "pretty certain" that there was a phantom handball no one else saw? I've started adding people to my ignore list for this kind of nonsense and the conspiracy theory nonsense. I'd hate to put you on it, because you'e usually a great commentator.
You may be on to something, but just to correct you Japan vs Greece ended 0-0. I think the man advantage actually hurt Japan because Greece only defended after that (although they are a defensive team to begin with). The first match Drogba came on for a defensive player I believe and Japan got tactically over-matched. And the last match Colombia started by resting some players but put on James Rodriguez and made some other changes to start the 2nd half. Japan were just overmatched, lol. Interestingly Cuadrado was subbed out at half time that match and got subbed out even earlier this time around.
In my opinion, Colombia will have a hard time against Poland. In fact, I worry that Poland can also trouble Japan. On the other hand, I don't think the result between Colombia and Senegal will be easy to predict. A draw is quite likely.
Thanks for correcting me on Japan-Greece. But now that my recollection is refreshed, I remember Japan dominated the chances when it was 11 v 11 in the first half but Greece actually had much better chances in the 2nd half when it became 11 v 10 and they were a man down.
Maybe you are right. You probably have a better memory than me. The only chance I can remember is the one that Okubo should have buried, much like in 2006 the chance Yanagisawa should have buried against Croatia. Those frustrating moments stick out for me.
Man of the Match: Sadio Mane. #SEN pic.twitter.com/oKds3suNvx— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) June 24, 2018
Senegal lost the match today. They may as well lost their match. The two African teams that haven't been eliminated now have to not lose to South Americans, and you just know where this is going. Now expecting to see some hard chokes. I predicted this scenario one WC too early, but yes, let's see Africa prove me wrong again and send at least one squad to knockouts. Maybe yet another shambolic world cup will prompt CAF to wake up and fix their own qualifiers.
Considering that the scenario you're talking about happens with AFC every two World Cups, and might even happen now (Poland might as well go for a gallant last stand as they usually do), without them ever fixing their qualifier, why would CAF do it ?