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Luis Diaz stars as Colombia see off resilient Uzbekistan
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Reading Time: 4min | Thu. 18.06.26. | 07:05
The win sees them take command of Group K, capitalizing on Portugal's 1-1 draw with DR Congo
Luis Diaz was the star of the show as Colombia marked their return to the big stage with an impressive, yet nervy 3-1 victory over debutants Uzbekistan in front of a partisan crowd at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico on Thursday, 18 May.
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The Bayern Munich forward scored his team’s winner, and also created Los Cafeteros opener, as Colombia turned on the style against Central Asia’s nearly men, who had threatened to peg back the South Americans with a first World Cup goal right at the hour-mark, and frequent trips to the opposition box in the last minutes, only to be done for with a last minute goal that settled the game.
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After a lengthy spell with no notable inroads into the Uzbekistan box, Colombia finally found their way in the 40th minute, when a broken play led to Diaz scooping a lovely pass for right-back Daniel Munoz to toe-poke over goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov, scoring what felt like a deserved opener.
Minutes before that, Colombia, who missed the World Cup in Qatar four years ago, had gone close when Jhon Arias placed his right-foot shot into the side-netting, with Diaz striking the base of a post shortly after the half-hour mark.
A brief spell of stale possession followed, but when Colombia begun shifting the pieces, Uzbekistan had no answer, going to the break on the backfoot, and with no real chance for them on the opposite end of the pitch.
With their tails up, Colombia were guilty of failing to increase their lead right after the break, and were duly punished when Uzbekistan, with their first real chance of the game, found an equalizer through Abbosbek Fayzullaev, this after Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas had made a mess of a powerful shot in his direction from Eldor Shomurodov.
The goal, a first for Fabio Cannavaro’s side in the World Cup, forced a big reaction from Colombia, who again took matters to their own hands, and it would not take them long enough, before they found what proved to be the winner.
That sequence of play came in the 65th minute, when a high-press from Colombia forced Uzbekistan to cough up the ball in midfield, leaving space for Diaz to cut in from the left, and place a low shot past the stretched arms of Yusupov, into the bottom corner.
A lead for Colombia, and many would have called it game, but despite ending up on the losing side, Uzbekistan were well worth the threat in the last minutes of the game, going close through Akmal Mozgovoy, and forcing the favorites to dig deep to hold onto their lead.
That lead would soon become more comfortable, as substitute Jaminton Campaz scored a brilliant low header from Cucho Hernandez’s cross, seeing out a win that was not as easy as the scoreline suggests!
WORLD CUP - GROUP STAGE
Monday, 15.06.
Ivory Coast - Ecuador 1-0 (0-0)
/Diallo 90/
Sweden - Tunisia 5-1 (2-1)
/Ayari 7, 90+6, Isak 30, Gyokeres , Svanberg 84 - Rekik 43/
Spain - Cabo Verde 0-0
Belgium - Egypt 1-1 (0-1)
/Hany 66 og - Ashour 20/
Tuesday 16.06.
Saudi Arabia- Uruguay 1-1 (1-0)
/Amri 41 - Araujo 80/
Iran - New Zealand 2-2 (1-1)
/Ramin 33,Mohebi, 64- Just, 7,54/
France - Senegal 3-1 (0-0)
/Mbappe 66, 90+6 Barcola 82 - Mbaye 90+5/
Wednesday
Iraq - Norway 1-3 (1-2)
/Hussein 39 - Haaland 29, 43 Ostigard 76/
Argentina - Algeria 3-0 (1-0)
/Messi 17, 60, 76/
Austria - Jordan 3-1 (1-0)
/Schmid 21, Al-Arab 76 og, Arnautovic 90+12 pen - Olwan 50/
Portugal - DR Congo 1-1 (1-1)
/Neves 6 - Wissa 45+5/
England - Croatia 4-2 (2-2)
/Kane 12 pen,42, Bellingham 47, Rashford 85 - Baturina 36, Musa 45+5/
Thursday
Ghana - Panama 1-0 (0-0)
/Yirenkyi 90+5/
Uzbekistan - Colombia 1-3 (0-1)
/Fayzullaev 60 - Munoz 40, Diaz 65, Campaz 90+9/
19.00: (1.80) Czech R. (3.50) S.Africa (4.70)
22.00: (1.65) Switzerland (3.60) B&H (5.80)
Friday
01.00: (1.32) Canada (5.10) Qatar (10.0)
04.00: (2.10) Mexico (3.30) S.Korea (3.70)
22.00: (1.65) USA (3.85) Australia (5.50)
Saturday
01.00: (4.70) Scotland (3.50) Morocco (1.80)
03.30: (1.12) Brazil (10.0) Haiti (16.0)
06.00: (2.10) Turkey (3.35) Paraguay (3.60)
20.00: (1.72) Netherlands (3.60) Sweden (5.30)
23.00: (1.58) Germany (4.00) Ivory Coast (5.90)
Sunday
03.00: (1.12) Ecuador (9.50) Curacao (19.0)
07.00: (6.50) Tunisia (3.60) Japan (1.60)
19.00: (1.10) Spain (10.5) Saudi Arabia (22.0)
***odds are subject to change***
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