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Some very good things have come from Croydon, the often overlooked town in south London. The film director David Lean was born there, as was Roy Hodgson, the actor Peggy Ashcroft and the sexologist Havelock Ellis. Amy Winehouse studied in Croydon. The Bill and Peep Show were filmed there, as was the title sequence of the 1980s sitcom Terry and June. For a long time it was a centre of brewing and leather production. It was on a suburban driveway there that Pickles found the Jules Rimet trophy after it had been stolen in 1966. And on Wednesday Croydon proved the crucible of Colombia’s victory over Uzbekistan.
Daniel Muñoz’s brilliant strike, created by Luis Díaz, set Colombia on heir way to a win that should never have been as edgy as it ended up being. But his Crystal Palace teammate Jefferson Lerma was a key figure in the centre of midfield, a controlling figure in Colombia’s domination of the majority of the game. “I’m living out my childhood dream of playing in a World Cup for my national team and for my country,” said a delighted Díaz after being named man of the match. “And what could be more beautiful than contributing with a goal and an assist?”
It was, in truth, a game desperately in need of something special. In Lean’s greatest film, Lawrence of Arabia undertook an arduous trek across the Nefud Desert to lead an attack on Aqaba, but even he may have baulked at the journey those travelling to the Azteca had to undertake from central Mexico City. Heavy rain led to huge puddles and numerous crashes. The verges alongside the Anillo Periférico were dotted with battered vehicles. For the final two or three miles the roads were lined with a ragged procession of fans who had abandoned their buses and taxis to walk. A trip that should have lasted just over an hour took more than four. Magnificent the Azteca may be, but it is not a modern football ground. Chaos swirls around it; nothing there really works.
For 40 minutes, other than some lusty singing from the stands, there wasn’t much to justify the effort. Reflecting that this was the first game in World Cup finals history to feature a double-landlocked country could only sustain the interest so far, even given the curiosity that they were facing a double-coasted country.
But then came the goal. Uzbekistan’s defensive line seemed deep enough that there was no danger behind it but Díaz measured a precise pass into the space where Muñoz swooped onto it from the right. It was an extremely difficult finish but the full-back, somehow, leaping with right leg fully extended, jabbed a toe at the ball and volleyed it
past Utkir Yusupov.
“We knew the first game wasn’t going to be easy,” said the Colombia manager Néstor Lorenzo. “We could have scored and built a bigger lead, but our opponents played well; they’re a very compact team and it was difficult for us to get through. We need to finish off our moves. We had a lot of possession but didn’t create crosses or shots on goal; we need to improve that.”
This was at least as much of a home match for Colombia as the opening game had been for Mexico. The stadium was a bowl of yellow – although the team themselves wore a greenish turquoise – broken only by a white splodge behind one goal of perhaps 100 white-wigged Uzbekistan fans, whose enthusiastic drummer ensured that they could be heard above the Colombian din.
The game soon settled into a pattern of attack against defence. Uzbekistan had kept seven clean sheets in 10 games in the third round of AFC qualifying, and it was easy to see how, their notional 3-4-2-1 often resembling a 5-4-1 with two banks sitting deep and the centre-forward Eldor Shomurodov doing a lot of chasing.
“We need to improve,” said Uzbekistan manager Fabio Cannavro. “Beating Colombia and Portugal will be difficult. But today we stayed in the game until the end and the team knew when to weather the pressure and when to counter them through possession.”
Although Colombia aren’t short of creative talent, this is not the side of 2014. Early on, there was a lot of sideways passing, but they improved after the hydration break to hit the post through Díaz.
The second half was rather livelier, as Uzbekistan found an equaliser just after the hour. The young Istanbul Başakşehir forward Abbosbek Fayzullaev nodded in from close range after Shomurodov’s volley had been deflected onto the post by the thighs of the Colombia goalkeeper Camilo Vargas. A mood of anxiety settled over the stadium, but it lasted only five minutes before Colombia retook the lead. Shomurodov was dispossessed, Colombia swept forward and Gustavo Puerta laid in Díaz to score with shot that squirmed through Yusupov’s hands. Colombia then dropped deep, though, inviting Uzbekistan onto them and they were under pressure when Jaminton Campaz made the game absolutely safe in injury-time, heading in after tenacious work by Juan Camilo Hernández.
With DR Congo holding Portugal to a draw, victory puts Colombia in charge of the group, although a proper assessment of how good they are will have to wait until they play a side prepared to do more than simply absorb pressure.
