Here is the current situation in Group C before the matches today:
- Colombia have already qualified and secured their place in the knock-out rounds, having beaten both Greece and Ivory Coast in their opening two matches
- Ivory Coast are currently 2nd in the group, and will progress to the Last 16 if things stay the way they are
- Greece and Japan both have a chance to still join Colombia in the knock-out rounds
- For Greece to progress: They have to beat Ivory Coast comfortably (positive goal difference) and hope that Japan do not beat Colombia
- For Japan to progress: They have to beat Colombia and hope that Greece do not beat Ivory Coast
Here are the team line-ups and news ahead of both matches in Group C today:
Greece vs Ivory Coast -
Greece: Karnezis, Torosidis, Sokratis, Manolas, Holebas, Christodoulopoulos, Maniatis, Karagounis, Kone, Salpingidis and Samaras.
Subs: Glykos, Tzavellas, Moras, Tziolis, Mitroglou, Vyntra, Gekas, Fetfatzidis, Katsouranis, Samaris, Tachtsidis and Kapino.
Ivory Coast: Barry, Aurier, Kolo Toure, Bamba, Boka, Die, Tiote, Kalou, Yaya Toure, Gervinho and Drogba.
Subs: Gbohouo, Mande, Viera, Zokora, Bolly, Akpa Akpro, Bony, Ya Konan, Diomande, Gradel, Djakpa and Sio.
Japan vs Colombia -
Japan: Kawashima, Uchida, Yoshida, Konno, Nagatomo, Okazaki, Aoyama, Hasebe, Kagawa, Honda and Okubo.
Subs: Nishikawa, Gotoku Sakai, Morishige, Endo, Kiyotake, Kakitani, Yamaguchi, Osako, Inoha, Hiroki Sakai, Gonda.
Colombia: Ospina, Arias, Valdes, Balanta, Armero, Cuadrado, Mejia, Guarin, Quintero, Martinez and Ramos.
Subs: Vargas, Zapata, Yepes, Carbonero, Sanchez, Aguilar, Gutierrez, Rodriguez, Ibarbo, Zuniga and Mondragon.
21:00 - Both matches have already kicked off, and I will be having LIVE analysis from both games as the night continues.
21:15 - Still 0-0 in both matches, with Ivory Coast and Colombia dominating in their respective games.
21:19 - GOAL! The first goal of the night and it's from the penalty spot, as Fiorentina winger Juan Cuadrado breaks the deadlock for Colombia after striker Jackson Martinez was brought down inside the box by defender Yasuyuki Konno.
Yellow card for the Japanese man, and Cuadrado makes no mistake to open the scoring.
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| Clumsy and reckless: Porto striker Jackson Martinez was fouled inside the area by Konno |
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| Opener: Cuadrado broke the deadlock from the penalty spot in the 18th minute |
21:25 - Second substitution of the match for Greece, only 25 minutes into the match.
First, midfielder Panagiotis Kone was replaced after 8 minutes, due to a pulled hamstring. Then, goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis went down clutching his back, and despite treatment from the physios, he was replaced after 5 minutes of testing out whether he would be okay to continue.
21:42 - GOAL! Greece have taken a shock lead, thanks to striker Andreas Samaris!
First, midfielder Panagiotis Kone was replaced after 8 minutes, due to a pulled hamstring. Then, goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis went down clutching his back, and despite treatment from the physios, he was replaced after 5 minutes of testing out whether he would be okay to continue.
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| Risk: Karnezis went down to ground, clutching his back - and then he tried to continue |
Poor defending by Ivory Coast, who lose the ball in a dangerous area and are consequently punished by Samaris who beats his man and slots the ball past goalkeeper Barry!
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| Samaris pounces on an Ivorian defensive mistake to break the deadlock before half-time |
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| How about that for a shock? Samaris celebrates his opener, to give Greece the lead |
21:48 - Half-time in the Greece vs Ivory Coast match, and a goal to report from Japan vs Colombia, as the Japanese equalise on the stroke of the break! A low headed effort into the bottom corner of the net, by Shinji Okazaki in stoppage time.
22:05 - Second-halves have begun, 1-1 in the Japan vs Colombia match and 1-0 to Greece against Ivory Coast.
22:15 - GOAL! Colombia make it 2-1, thanks to Jackson Martinez! A great run and dribble past the opposition defence from substitute James Rodriguez, before passing the ball into Martinez's path who smashes the shot into the corner of the net!
23:00 -
FULL-TIME SCORES:
Japan 1 Colombia 4 - Another two second-half goals from Martinez and James Rodriguez gives the Colombians another win in the group, and ensures that they finish out of Group C as the winners.
Greece 2 Ivory Coast 1 - Greece pull out a late shock to score in the dying seconds from the penalty spot (Samaras) to send the Africans home.
22:05 - Second-halves have begun, 1-1 in the Japan vs Colombia match and 1-0 to Greece against Ivory Coast.
22:15 - GOAL! Colombia make it 2-1, thanks to Jackson Martinez! A great run and dribble past the opposition defence from substitute James Rodriguez, before passing the ball into Martinez's path who smashes the shot into the corner of the net!
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| Power strike: Martinez makes it 2-1 to the Colombians after good play by James Rodriguez |
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| Back in the lead: Martinez celebrates his first goal at this year's World Cup |
FULL-TIME SCORES:
Japan 1 Colombia 4 - Another two second-half goals from Martinez and James Rodriguez gives the Colombians another win in the group, and ensures that they finish out of Group C as the winners.
Greece 2 Ivory Coast 1 - Greece pull out a late shock to score in the dying seconds from the penalty spot (Samaras) to send the Africans home.
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| Samaras celebrates sending Greece through to the knock-out rounds along with Colombia |
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