Colombia beat Ghana to reach last 16published at 11:39 BST
11:39 BST
Colombia 1-0 Ghana
Alex Hoad
BBC Sport
Media caption,
Arias strike sends Colombia into last 16
Colombia progressed to the World Cup last 16 with another convincing display as Jhon Arias’ first-half winner eliminated a disappointing Ghana side in sweltering Kansas City.
Playing in temperatures above 30C until well after 10pm, Nestor Lorenzo’s men booked a date with Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday (21:00 BST), with the mouth-watering prospect of a quarter-final meeting with Argentina looming beyond that – and the only surprise is that they did not win by a wider margin.
In a chaotic opening 10 minutes, Colombia forward Jhon Cordoba was forced off with a groin strain, with Luis Suarez coming on, while Ghana lost right-back Marvin Senaya to a hamstring injury, with Alidu Seidu replacing him.
It was Suarez who burst down the right and crossed for the unmarked Arias to guide home a far-post volley after 14 minutes, with Seidu failing to track the midfielder’s run.
Ghana eventually came out of their shell and Manchester City forward Antoine Semenyo saw a shot deflected over the bar – as his tournament ended without a single effort on target.
At the other end, Luis Diaz dragged a low shot wide of the near post with only recalled keeper Lawrence Zigi to beat and Suarez powered a header off-target from Jefferson Lerma’s cross. In added time, Zigi did well to claw Johan Mojica’s downward header off the line from Daniel Munoz’s cross to the far post.
Colombia replaced James Rodriguez, on his 130th appearance, at half-time, with Richard Rios dragging a low shot wide within moments of coming on for the captain.
Ghana tried to find a late leveller to force extra time but became the seventh of nine African sides in the last 32 to be eliminated at this stage, with only Morocco and Egypt continuing their journey.