MOSCOW: Poland crashed out of the World Cup on Sunday after just two games thanks to second-half strikes from Colombia’s Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado in their Group H match at Kazan.

Falcao scored his first career World Cup goal in the 70th minute on a through ball from Juan Quintero. The Colombian captain beat the offside trap and Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to double the lead after a Yerry Mina header had put Colombia up in the first half.

Minutes after Falcao’s finish, Poland gave the ball away in midfield and Cuadrado rushed toward the box on a breakaway, timed his shot perfectly and beat Szczesny in the 75th.

Both teams opened with 2-1 losses in Group H, and knew going into the match that another loss would end their hopes of advancing at the World Cup.

Colombia were upset by Japan, becoming the first South American team to lose a game to an Asian team at the World Cup. Poland lost to Senegal, who are back at the World Cup for the first time since reaching the quarterfinals in 2002.

Senegal and Japan had a 2-2 draw earlier Sunday and lead the group with four points apiece.

The atmosphere was hot and humid in Tatarstan’s capital and early exchanges were heated with lots of hard impact in duels.

Poland got away to an aggressive start and tried to impose a fast pace, pressing their opponents very high on the pitch and winning most of the duels in the opening minutes.

Colombia gradually settled in, though, with midfielders providing attacking width and playmaker Juan Quintero being a constant threat.

Published in Dawn, June 25th, 2018