Japan’s World Cup opener on Tuesday offers the Asian side an opportunity for revenge against Colombia, as it looks to finally banish the bad memories of the 2014 edition in Brazil. Four years ago, Japan met Colombia in its final group outing knowing it still had a chance of reaching the knockout phase, but it was crushed 4-1 by the South Americans.
As it turned out, any victory that day in Cuiaba would have sent the Samurai Blue through at the expense of Greece. And Eiji Kawashima, who let those four goals in, says it is time to for Japan to make amends, with retribution on their minds ahead of the meeting in Saransk.
Poland will give centre-half Kamil Glik every opportunity to prove his fitness ahead of its World Cup opener against Senegal in Moscow on Tuesday. The Monaco defender was initially thought to be out of the tournament after injuring his shoulder attempting a bicycle kick in training just hours after being named in Adam Nawalka's 23-man squad.
But he has made a remarkable recovery and, although it remains unlikely he will play against the African side, Nawalka’s assistant Bogdan Zajac says every scenario remains possible.
African nations have suffered a bruising opening to the 2018 World Cup and Egypt is set to turn to the continent’s finest player in a bid to bring about a change of fortunes against host Russia in Group A.
- Group H: Colombia vs Japan, 1730 IST, Mordovia Arena, Saransk
- Group H: Poland vs Senegal, 2030 IST, Spartak Stadium, Moscow
- Group A: Russia vs Egypt, 2330 IST, Saint Petersburg Stadium, St. Petersburg
All matches will be telecast live on, SONY Ten 2, SONY Ten 3 and SONY ESPN.
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