Ghana can only have feared the worst when Luis Suárez 's number came up in the seventh minute. A day on from the 16th anniversary of one of the most infamous episodes in World Cup history, the Colombia forward who shares a name with the man whose handball broke the hearts of Black Stars supporters in the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup returned to haunt them.
Not long after coming off the bench, it was the Sporting striker who provided the assist for what turned out to be the winning goal from Jhon Arias to set up a last-16 clash against Switzerland in Vancouver on Tuesday. Even if they couldn't find another goal that their superiority clearly warranted, Colombia were deserved winners and look more than capable of at least matching their previous best result at the 2014 World Cup when they lost to Brazil in the last eight.
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"It means a lot," said their manager, Néstor Lorenzo, who was part of the Argentina side that were defeated in the final in 1990 and could face his compatriots in the quarter-finals if they can get past Switzerland. "It's a very tough tournament with different temperatures and lots of travelling – really difficult logistics for everyone."
Arias, who spent a disastrous six months at Wolves this season before being sold to the Brazilian side Palmeiras in February, is confident they can make history this time around. "We have what it takes to dream, to believe, in reaching the final," he said. "The first step is dreaming and believing it is possible."
This was Ghana's first knockout match since that fateful day in Johannesburg when Suárez and Uruguay prevented them from becoming the first African team to reach the semi-finals. But this is a limited squad that has probably overachieved under the experienced Carlos Queiroz by making it this far. A lack of creativity in the absence of Tottenham's Mohammed Kudus was laid bare here as they failed to even muster a shot on target.
"What's next for me is to have a glass of water and relax, refresh for the next morning and start to make other decisions," said Queiroz, Sir Alex Ferguson's former assistant at Manchester United who is coaching at his fifth World Cup.
With the yellow-shirted Colombia supporters vastly outnumbering their counterparts from west Africa, Lorenzo knew the onus was on his side to take the game to Ghana. But it was Thomas Partey who almost opened the scoring inside the opening two minutes as his shot whistled past the post. A suspected hamstring injury to their main striker, Jhon Córdoba, after he clashed with Jerome Opoku forced Colombia into an early change as Suárez – who scored 28 times in Portugal last season but has been used mainly off the bench here so far – was introduced. A distraught Marvin Senaya also had to be replaced soon after an incident involving Luis Díaz when the Bayern Munich forward was adamant he should have had a penalty, although it looked more like a dive.
The change seemed to affect Ghana's organisation that was so impressive in the stalemate against England during the group stages. "The moment Senaya came off, the team did not have the same discipline and organisation," Queiroz said.Predictably it was Suárez who found space down the right flank and he made the most of his second attempt to cross the ball by picking out the unmarked Arias at the far post. The teenage midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi was guilty of losing his man.
Another bad omen for Ghana was that they had failed to win any of their three previous World Cup games matches against South American nations, having also lost to Brazil in 2006 in the last 16 before being beaten again by Uruguay four years ago during the group stages. Chasing games is not how Queiroz has made his name at four previous World Cups and they were subjected to boos from the Colombia fans during one passage of play when they seemed reluctant to play a forward pass. Alidu Seidu , Senaya's replacement at right-back, then gave away possession in a dangerous area and a better finish from Díaz would have given Ghana a huge mountain to climb.
Lawrence Ati-Zigi – recalled in goal after injury – then came to their rescue with a flying save to deny Johan Mojica 's header from a delicious Daniel Muñoz cross.
James Rodríguez looked disappointed to be hauled off at the break, even if the best days of the 34-year-old, who starred on their previous run to the quarter-finals in 2014, are clearly behind him. Ghana again made a quicker start as Antoine Semenyo 's cross fizzed across the face of goal. Díaz thought he had doubled the lead, only for the linesman's flag to cut short his and René Higuita's celebrations in the stands before another effort was saved by Ati-Zigi. Ghana were hanging on for their lives.
Queiroz threw on Leicester's Abdul Fatawu as one of four substitutes in an attempt to force extra time. But Colombia still looked more likely to score as Davinson Sánchez saw his header from a corner saved and the substitute Jaminton Campaz also came close. There will be much bigger tests to come than Ghana could manage.
