Diaz and Co. celebrate

3-1! Colombia gets the job done against Uzbekistan

Luis Diaz scored to make it 2–1.(Bild: AP/Ashtin Barker)

Colombia’s national soccer team kicked off the World Cup with a 3-1 victory over Uzbekistan. Daniel Muñoz (40'), Luis Díaz (65'), and Jaminton Campaz (90+9') scored for the South Americans, while Abbosbek Fayzullayev (60') got on the scoresheet for Uzbekistan.

Colombia has gotten off to a successful start in the World Cup in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. The South Americans lived up to their role as favorites on Wednesday with a 3-1 win in Mexico City against World Cup debutant Uzbekistan and are now leaders in Group K. They hold a two-point lead over Portugal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who played to a 1-1 draw. Daniel Munoz (40'), Luis Diaz (65'), and Jaminton Campaz (99') sealed the victory. Abbosbek Fayzullaev (60') scored for the underdog.

Daniel Munoz scored an acrobatic goal to make it 1-0.(Bild: AP/Silvia Izquierdo)

Munoz scores a spectacular goal
“Today, a childhood dream came true: playing for my national team and my country at a World Cup. And what could be better than contributing to the victory with a goal and an assist?” said an “overjoyed” Diaz. His team is a close-knit group. “We’ll keep getting better with every game,” promised the Bayern Munich player. There were mixed feelings in the Uzbekistan camp. “We played a great game, but the World Cup is simply on another level. In soccer, mistakes are punished. We’ve learned a hard lesson,” analyzed head coach Fabio Cannavaro.

A spectacular opening goal
In front of 80,824 spectators at the Azteca Stadium, the Colombians—with captain James Rodriguez, who had recovered in time, starting from the beginning—established dominance on the field and were unchallenged for the time being. A shot by Jhon Arias hit the side netting (17th minute), and a left-footed shot by Bayern’s Diaz bounced off the post back into play (32nd minute). The third big chance proved successful. Muñoz converted a cross from Diaz with an acrobatic first-time volley from a wide angle. The favorites continued to control the game after the break as well.

However, the Central Asian team coached by Fabio Cannavaro equalized due to a goalkeeping error. Camilo Vargas fumbled a volley by Shomurodov; the ball rebounded off the post to Fayzullaev, who headed it in from point-blank range. But their joy was short-lived. The Colombians quickly transitioned after winning the ball, and Diaz scored off a pass from Gustavo Puerta. The goalkeeper didn’t look good on that play either, as Utkir Yusupov deflected the ball into his own net. Things got even more turbulent as the Uzbeks put in their best performance in the closing minutes. Akmal Mozgovoy curled the ball just wide (90th minute). On the other end, Campaz sealed the victory with a header off a cross from Cucho Hernandez. Uzbekistan had one more stroke of bad luck when Behruzjon Karimov hit the crossbar (101').