World Cup: Senegal lift African spirits by beating Poland, Japan sink 10-man Colombia in historic win for Asia

Senegal’s Teranga Lions made Africans in Moscow proud on Tuesday evening with a 2-1 defeat of Poland at the Spartak Stadium in their opening Group H match.
Africans at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia have been wearing forlorn faces after four of their five teams lost.
But Senegal gave signs of making the difference by holding their own before the 44,190 crowd who were witnessing a match fought from end to end in the opening minutes.
The Poles did hold the advantage in possession though, but after a neat move in the 37th minute, Senegal opened scoring.
Idrissa Gueye’s shot was deflected in by Thiago Cionek to give the Lions a deserved lead.
Senegal knew what they needed to do thereafter, holding off Poland to take their advantage into the second half, when they tightened the back and still surged forward on the break.
Midfielder Grzegorz Krychowiak was soon to make a costly error, playing a high, aimless back pass.
Striker M’Baye Niang controlled the ball ahead of an advancing goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny before tapping into an empty net.
Krychowiak however pulled a goal back in the 86th minute with a header from Kamil Grosicki’s free-kick but Senegal held on.
Poland are the group’s highest-ranked side at number eight, but they struggled to create further chances with a free-kick from captain Robert Lewandowski one of just four shots on target.
Senegal who are making only their second World Cup appearance now lead the group ahead of Japan, who beat Colombia 1-0 earlier on Tuesday.
Senegal’s victory has now become a breath of fresh air for Africa since Friday when Egypt lost their opening Group A match to Uruguay at Ekaterinburg.

The Egyptians had lost to a Jose Gimenez 89th minute goal, and since then three other African teams have lost their opening group games.
Hours after Egypt’s loss, Morocco lost 0-1 to Iran at Saint Petersburg in a Group B match, through Aziz Bouhaddouz’s own goal in the fifth minute of added time.
Nigeria worsened the situation by losing 0-2 to Croatia at Kaliningrad on Saturday in Group D, through an Oghenekaro Etebo own goal and a Luka Modric penalty kick.
Tunisia went on to add to Africans’ misery on Monday by losing 1-2 to England in Group G at Volgograd.
They gave the game away in the first minute of added time when Harry Kane completed his brace with the winning goal.
Egypt face hosts Russia later on Tuesday in their second Group A game needing victory to stay on in the competition.
On Wednesday, Morocco too will be facing Portugal in a Group B match at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow needing a win to stay on.
Nigeria are playing on Friday at Volgograd, also needing to win to stay on from Group D.
Senegal were not short of support on Tuesday at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow when beating Poland 2-1, in spite of the overwhelming crowd of Poles and their other European supporters.
An estimated 95 per cent of the stadium crowd of 44,190 must have been rooting for Poland during the Group H match.
Many of them were Poles who came in across the borders, while many others were Russians and other Europeans who felt their affinities lay with Poland.
 
But, Senegal were not alone as other Africans were in the crowd fervently praying and rooting for the West Africans, ostensibly because they wanted the Lions to win for Africa.
 
They had cause to smile and dance as Senegal had the match under control for most moments of the game.
 
Even, in the VIP stands of the stadium, Senegal had another segment of supporters.
 
Senegalese President, Macky Fall, was there with the country’s Ambassador to Russia, Abdousalam  Diallo, alongside ambassadors of six other African countries to Russia.
 
They are from Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Mali, Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.
 
Confederation of African Football (CAF) President, Ahmad Ahmad; FIFA Secretary-General, Fatma Samoura; former Senegal striker, Khalilou Fadiga and former Cote D’Ivorie Captain, Didier Drogba, were also on the stand and strengthened the support.
Meanwhile, Japan beat 10-man Colombia 2-1 in Group H on Tuesday to become the first Asian side to beat a South American one at the World Cup.
Asian teams had managed three draws in 17 matches against South American sides but the four-times Asian champions made their extra man count after Colombia midfielder Carlos Sanchez became the first player to get a red card in Russia.
His sending-off in the third minute, for a deliberate handball, was the second fastest in World Cup history after Uruguay’s Jose Batista was dismissed after 55 seconds against Scotland in 1986.
Shinji Kagawa scored from the resulting penalty to give Japan the lead.
Juan Quintero’s clever low free kick in the 39th minute brought Colombia’s equaliser but Yuya Osako leapt above his marker to head a corner into the net for the 73rd-minute winner.
It was sweet revenge for Japan, who were thumped 4-1 by Colombia in Brazil four years ago, but they wasted plenty of chances to kill the game off.
Kagawa went close in the 16th minute but his shot rolled past the post and Osako fired against the face of goal from a dangerous position in the box.
With Japan dominating in midfield, Colombia’s Argentine coach Jose Pekerman opted to sacrifice Juan Cuadrado around the half hour mark to send on defensive midfielder Wilmar Barrios.
That gave Colombia extra control and their all-time leading scorer and captain Radamel Falcao came more into the game.
Falcao, making his World Cup debut after missing the last tournament in Brazil due to injury, showed his hunger when he stretched full length to get his foot to an overhead cross but did not have the power to beat the goalkeeper.
Genki Haraguchi’s foul on Falcao earned Colombia a foul on the edge of the box and Quintero fired a low free kick under the leaping wall. Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima reacted late and by the time he got his hands to the ball, it had crossed the line.
Pekerman introduced James Rodriguez, who did not start due to a calf problem, in the 59th minute but the Golden Boot winner in Brazil was unable to change the course of the match.