FOOTBALL | Page 3 TENNIS | Page 7 Germany Sabalenka arrive home shocks holder aft er World Cup Pliskova in agony Eastbourne Friday, June 29, 2018 FOOTBALL Shawwal 15, 1439 AH Januzaj strike GULF TIMES against England sends Belgium top of the group SPORT Page 2 REPORT SEN 0-1 COL Colombia through; yellow card heartache for Senegal Senegal needed a point to advance but loss saw them miss out to Japan,p who edgedg them on better disciplinaryp y record Reuters World Cup appearance since 2002, Mane, and after reviewing his origi- Samara, Russia and left Africa without a representa- nal decision, Mazic agreed. tive in the knockout stages for the Colombia had got off to a poor fi rst time in 36 years. start and suff ered a blow early on olombia’s Yerry Mina “Senegal doesn’t qualify because when playmaker and talisman James thumped home a second- we don’t deserve it. This is one of Rodriguez was forced off injured. half header to secure a dra- the rules,” their coach Aliou Cisse After his display in their last match matic 1-0 victory over Sen- said. against Poland, Colombian hopes Cegal yesterday that catapulted the “We have to respect it. We would had again been pinned on the shoul- South Americans into the World Cup prefer to be eliminated another way... ders of Rodriguez, who had spear- last 16 and dumped their African op- We were fully committed and maybe headed their run to the last quarter- ponents out of tournament. because we were fully committed we fi nals four years ago. Senegal had only needed a point in got more yellow cards.” Those hopes looked forlorn, howev- their fi nal Group H game to reach the Senegal had been heading through er, within minutes of kickoff at the Sa- next round, but defeat saw them miss until the 74th minute when Mina mara Arena as the forward was hit with out to Japan, who edged them for the rose to meet a corner and sent a bul- one heavy challenge, which clearly runners-up spot by virtue of having a let header into the turf and bouncing took its toll, and he was withdrawn af- better disciplinary record. up into the roof of the net. ter half an hour having spent much of It was the first time in World the intervening period ambling around Cup history that a team had been CRUSHING BLOW the pitch. eliminated by the amount of yellow It was a crushing blow to the Senega- His exit did little, however, to re- cards they had accrued in the tour- lese who had been the better side for vive the sluggish South Americans, nament. most of the game and had a penalty who had been second best in almost Both Senegal and Japan, who were award overturned in the fi rst half af- every department. beaten 1-0 by Poland yesterday, fi n- ter a VAR review. Chances throughout the game ished the group with four points They had looked set to take the were thin on the ground, with Co- and an identical record in all other lead in the 17th minute when Liver- lombia striker Radamel Falcao head- respects. Yet the Asian side ended pool forward Sadio Mane went down ing off target in the 25th minute in second position having picked up in the area under a challenge from and again in the second half, while four yellow cards to Senegal’s six. Davinson Sanchez and referee Milo- substitute Luis Muriel had an eff ort Colombia, who fi nished as group rad Mazic pointed to the spot. blocked. winners with six points will face a The VAR system has not been Yet Mina ensured Colombia were last-16 match against Group G run- universally acclaimed at this tour- not made to pay when he headed ners-up England. nament, but television replays ap- home, sparking wild celebrations Defeat for Senegal eliminated peared to show Sanchez get his heel among the mostly Colombian fans them at the group stage in their fi rst on the ball, before clattering into inside the stadium. REPORT JPN 0-1 POL Japan booed off aft er losing to Poland but reaching last 16 AFP Volgograd, Russia apan qualifi ed for the last 16 of “It was a very tough decision. the World Cup yesterday de- There was a ‘what if?’ on our spite losing 1-0 to Poland but pitch, and a ‘what if?’ on the both teams were booed from other pitch. “I chose to keep Jthe pitch in Volgograd after a farcical the status quo in our game, end to their fi nal Group H match. and rely instead on the other The Blue Samurai went through by result. My players were very the slimmest of margins — their fair loyal in listening to me and play record — after the last 10 min- following my decision. It was utes were played out like a training tough, as my style is attack match as both sides settled for the minded. The situation forced result. me to make this decision.” Japan will meet Group G winners — Japan coach Akira Nishino Belgium after reaching the knockout on downing tools towards the stage for the third time in their his- end of the match tory. When Jan Bednarek scored his fi rst international goal in the 60th minute for already eliminated Poland, the score between Colombia and Senegal Colombia’s Yerry Mina (second from left) heads stood at 0-0, meaning Japan were the ball to score during the match against Senegal going out. in Samara, Russia, yesterday. (AFP) But once news fi ltered through of win the group and Japan were ahead of hardly a single tackle was made in Yerry Mina’s 74th-minute goal for Senegal despite identical points, goal the last 10 minutes as Poland decided Colombia the match changed for the diff erence and goals scored, because any sort of win would be enough and worse. they had received fewer yellow cards. Japan decided not to risk any yellow The strike meant Colombia would A cacophony of boos rang out as cards. France Uruguay Spain Croatia Brazil Belgium Sweden Colombia June 30 June 30 July 1 July 1 July 2 July 2 July 3 July 3 Kazan, 5pm Sochi, 9pm Moscow (Luzhniki), 5pm Nizhny Novgorod, 9pm Samara, 5pm Rostov-on-Don, 9pm Saint Petersburg, 5pm Moscow (Spartak), 9pm Argentina Portugal Russia Denmark Mexico Japan Switzerland England KNOCKOUTS Victory over Panama is Tunisia’s fi rst in a World Cup since they beat Mexico 3-1 in 1978 2 Gulf Times Friday, June 29, 2018 REPORT ENG 0-1 BEL GRIEVANCE Morocco complain Januzaj stunner sees to FIFA over referee ‘injustice’ Reuters ests of our competitors,” it said. Belgium beat England Lekjaa went on to list what he Moscow said were three incidents from their 1-0 defeat by Portugal, Belgium take on Japan while England face Colombia in the knockouts he Moroccan Football including Cristiano Ronaldo’s Federation yesterday fourth-minute winner, which he AFP complained to world said should never have counted Kaliningrad, Russia football’s governing as a Portugal player had commit- Tbody FIFA over what it said were ted a foul. a series of refereeing mistakes in He also said fi ve decisions brilliant strike by Adnan Januzaj their World Cup Group B match- from the 2-2 draw against Spain, lit up an otherwise insipid clash es against Portugal and Spain with his team already eliminated, as Belgium beat England 1-0 to which led to their elimination. including the Spanish last-gasp secure top spot in World Cup The federation said the “seri- equaliser, had gone against Mo- AGroup G in Kaliningrad yesterday. ous referee errors” led to their rocco. Januzaj’s superb second-half goal sent early exit and that the video as- The African side, who also lost Belgium into a last 16 clash with Japan sistant referee (VAR) had been their group opener to Iran, had while England will now advance to a sec- used or not used in order to serve been fuming following their loss ond round meeting with Colombia on the interests of their opponents. to the Portuguese, their second Tuesday. “We want to express our indig- group game, that had killed off By fi nishing second in the group, Eng- nation at the injustice suff ered by their chances of advancing. land have though avoided a loaded top our national team, following se- “With what has happened we half of the draw containing past winners rious refereeing errors that led to can only express our serious con- Brazil, France, Argentina and Uruguay as (the team’s) premature exit from cern at the persistence of these well as European champions Portugal. the fi rst round of the 2018 World injustices and the negative im- The fact second place in the group was Cup,” federation president Fouzi pact on the image of FIFA and the no disaster seemed to be a big factor in Lekjaa said in a letter to FIFA future of football,” he said. both coaches’ team selection with their President Gianni Infantino. Lekjaa urged Infantino to “take places in the last 16 already secured. “The severity of these referee- the necessary measures and Southgate made eight changes with ing errors is all the more evident make the necessary adjustments Belgian boss Roberto Martinez going one in the fact that in these two in order to repair these injustices better as only Thibaut Courtois and De- matches (against Portugal and and guarantee the conditions of a dryck Boyata retained their places from against Spain), the use of VAR competition with equal oppor- the 5-2 thrashing of Tunisia.