World Cup 2018: Colombia Eliminate Poland With 3-0 Win In Group Stage

Poland was eliminated from the 2018 World Cup in Russia on Sunday after losing to Colombia 3-0 in its second game of the tournament.

Colombia Eliminates Poland From World Cup 2018

Led by star striker Robert Lewandowski, Poland is virtually out of the World Cup after just one round. Yerra Mina, Radamel Falcao and Juan Cuadrado all scored for Colombia in Kazan, Russia to give the Latin Americans their first victory in the competition, after losing to Japan 2-1 in their opener.

James Rodriguez, Colombia’s star forward who plays for Bayern Munich, played just 30 minutes in his national team’s opening game because of a calf injury. On Sunday, however, he provided great power to Colombia’s offense and helped set up the first goal. In the 40th minute, Rodriguez took a pass on the right side of the box and then lobbed it to the center of the penalty area for Mina to head it home from just a few yards out.

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The second goal came in the 70th minute, when Juan Fernando Quintero fed Falcao with a through pass that the latter received just outside the box before racing forward to knock it in with the outside of his cleat as Poland’s goalie Wojciech Szczesny rushed out to make a save.

Cuadrado’s goal came five minutes later, after Rodriguez sent a pass from near the left sideline to feed Cuadrado, and Poland’s defense simply had no opportunity to tackle him. Cuadrado raced toward the middle and slotted past Szczesny to make it 3-0.

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Colombia are third in Group H with three points, while Japan and Senegal each have four points. Colombia and Senegal next face off on Thursday at 10am EST, at the same time Japan and Poland will play their final group-stage game. Japan and Senegal tied 2-2 on Sunday, while England routed Panama 6-1.

On Saturday, Mexico defeated South Korea 2-1 and Germany also secured a 2-1 victory over Sweden after trailing 1-0 at halftime.

Article by Pablo Mena