Japan pulled off a surprise result by beating Colombia 2-1 at the Mordovia Arena in Saransk on Tuesday afternoon, aided by a red card shown to Carlos Sanchez less than three minutes in.
The Samurai Blue took further advantage of the early call by converting from the penalty spot through Shinji Kagawa.
Juan Quintero levelled up the contest before half time with a smart free kick, but Yuya Osako won the match for the Asian side 17 minutes from the end.
Relive how the 90 minutes of action unfolded with Sports Mole's live text coverage below.
STARTING XI: Ospina; Arias, D.Sanchez, Murillo, Mojica; C.Sanchez, Lerma; Cuadrado, Quintero, Izquierdo; Falcao
SUBS: Vargas, J.F Cuadrado, Zapata, Barrios, Bacca, Aguilar, James, Mina, Muriel, Uribe, F.Diaz, Borja
STARTING XI: Kawashima; Sakai, Yoshida, Shoji, Nagatomo; Hasebe, Shibasaki; Haraguchi, Kagawa, Inui; Osako
SUBS: Higashiguchi, Nakamura, Ueda, Honda, Endo, Okazaki, Usami, Muto, Yamaguchi, Oshima, Makino, Sakai
© Reuters
© Reuters
Jose Pekerman: "The short-term objective is to get through the group stage, and this is not easy at all. The team, four years ago, started in good form and improved as the tournament went on and reached the quarter-finals. This team still has to show this level. We respect all the World Cup teams. There are many favorites. We hope to do as well as we did four years ago, or better, but the truth is that we'll go match by match."
Akira Nishino: "There were players who were a bit shocked by this incident and they were concerned about relatives and family members. They were concerned, so this psychological impact is something I am a bit worried about. But we, the team staff, are consulting with them and hope they will settle down."
© Reuters
COLOMBIA SUBS: Vargas, J.F Cuadrado, Zapata, Bacca, Aguilar, James, Mina, Muriel, Uribe, F.Diaz, Borja
JAPAN SUBS: Higashiguchi, Nakamura, Ueda, Honda, Endo, Okazaki, Usami, Muto, Yamaguchi, Oshima, Makino, Sakai
© Reuters