Colombia 1-0 Ghana: Arias 14
Colombia secured their place in the World Cup quarter-finals with a 1-0 victory over Ghana that could have been more. The South Americans controlled much of the contest and created enough opportunities to win by a wider margin, but in the end Jhon Arias’ first-half goal was all that separated the sides, even if Ghana never looked like coming back in it.
This marked the end of a spirited campaign for the Black Stars, who have not been great, but have at least exceeded expectations. An opening day victory against Panama gave them the edge and they were able to stifle England for the most eyeball-scratching draw of the tournament, meaning that even with a loss to Croatia in their final group game they could reach the knockouts.
But here in Kansas City they struggled against Colombia and rarely threatened goalkeeper Camilo Vargas, even if they did enjoy a good spell of possession after the interval, Thomas Partey’s long-range effort that flew narrowly wide very early in the first half their best chance at goal.
The game turned early enough when Colombia’s Luis Suarez bolted down and fired a cross in. It missed everybody and reached the far post where Arias had drifted away from his ball-watching marker Caleb Yirenkyi before calmly guiding his finish beyond Lawrence Ati-Zigi.
Colombia continued to threaten. Luis Diaz squandered an excellent opportunity to double the advantage before Ati-Zigi produced a fine reflex save to deny Johan Mojica’s powerful header from Daniel Munoz’s cross. It kept Ghana in the contest heading into the break and in the second half they responded by being more positive on the ball.
But Colombia always looked the more threatening side and could have gone 2-0 up but Diaz’s close-range finish was ruled out for offside. The winger was then denied again by Ati-Zigi, who also denied Davinson Sanchez to ensure his side bowed out with a respectable scoreline.
