The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Senegal, Japan edge out wins, Russia rolls
At the World Cup, Senegal and Japan edged out 2-1 victories over Poland and Colombia, respectively, and Russia continued to roll with a 3-1 win over Egypt to all but assure a spot in the knockout stage.
• Two wins, eight goals and almost certainly a place in the knockout stage for first time since the Soviet era. Russia is enjoying quite the party at its own World Cup and not even the highly anticipated return of Mohamed Salah could slow it down. Confounding grim pre-tournament predictions, the host nation earned a second straight emphatic victory to start the group stage by beating Egypt, 3-1. Having already routed Saudi Arabia, 5-0, Russia is likely to be celebrating a spot in the round of 16 by June 20 and few could have seen that happening so soon. “It’s a group of solidarity and cohesion,” said Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov, who whipped up the crowd by waving his arms in delight on the field after the final whistle. “You mention difficulties, problems. We don’t like these words. We don’t have this in our vocabulary. We had some issues and we dealt with it.” Like a string of pre-tournament injuries that ravaged the defense. Like a run of seven winless games heading into the tournament. The Russians started the World Cup as the lowest-ranked team at the tournament at No. 70, but they aren’t playing like it. • Senegal midfielder Mbaye Niang saw the signal from the referee to re-enter following treatment for an injury and jogged along the center line. Then Niang noticed Poland’s Grzegorz Krychowiak loft a backpass to Jan Bednarek, who hadn’t realized Niang was back on the field. Niang outsprinted goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to reach the ball about 40 yards from the net, knocked the ball forward and tapped it in for Senegal’s second fluky goal of the night. The Lions of Teranga held on for a 2-1 win over Poland and opened the World Cup with a surprising victory just like in 2002. “You have to deserve your luck,” Niang said. “We were rewarded today for our work. You have to seize your chances when they are given to you.” Senegal became the first African team to win at this year’s World Cup after Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia were outscored 6-1 in losses. It went ahead in the 37th minute when Thiago Cionek’s attempted block of Idrissa Gueye’s shot deflected and wrong-footed Szczesny, who was picked to start over fellow Arsenal castoff Lukasz Fabianski. After Niang doubled the lead in the 60th, Krychowiak headed in Kamil Grosicki’s free kick in the 86th minute, ending a streak of five straight scoreless openers for Poland. “Two goals following our mistakes was something that we were very unhappy with,” Poland coach Adam Nawalka said. • Japan did what no other Asian team had ever done at a World Cup beat a South American squad on the biggest stage in soccer. The 2-1 victory over Colombia was another surprising result in an unpredictable tournament. A costly mistake by Colombia midfielder Carlos Sanchez in the opening minutes led to a red card and a penalty, helping Japan take an early lead. Coming in the third minute, it was the second fastest red card in World Cup history and the first of this year’s tournament. Yuya Osako won a bouncing ball to begin a sequence that led to the red card and the penalty. Sanchez blocked Shinji Kagawa’s shot with his extended right arm and was ejected. Kagawa then converted from the spot. Colombia, which played with 10 men for the rest of the match, scored late in the first half on Juan Quintero’s rolling but accurate free kick, which sneaked inside the right post. Osako’s gritty determination led to a 73rd-minute header from Keisuke Honda’s corner kick that gave Japan three points in Group H. “He played well in Germany this season,” Honda said of the Werder Bremen forward. “He also couldn’t score last World Cup and I knew he really wanted to score this game. I’m happy he scored.”