KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jhon Arias scored off a sharp cross from Luis Suárez in the opening minutes, and Colombia controlled Ghana on a sweltering night at Arrowhead Stadium, allowing Los Cafeteros to advance to the Round of 16 at the World Cup with a 1-0 victory Friday night.
Colombia will play Switzerland on Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The game was just minutes old when Colombia forward Jhon Córdoba appeared to hurt his groin, forcing coach Néstor Lorenzo to bring Suárez — the standout from Sporting CP, not the Inter Miami star of the same name — off the bench as an early substitute.
He factored into the game immediately: In the 14th minute, Daniel Muñoz played a ball to Suárez, who sent it across the front of the goal, where Arias was waiting to flick it past Ghana goalkeeper Lawrence Ati Zigi for a 1-0 lead.
Los Cafeteros thought they had doubled their lead in the 56th minute, when Luis Díaz found the back of the net only to see the offside flag raised, and the fleet-footed Colombia forward had a point-blank shot saved by Zigi a few minutes later.
Zigi wound up making seven saves to keep Ghana in the game.
It was 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31.1 Celsius) with a heat index of 96 when the game kicked off at 8:30 p.m. local time, the late start intentional due to the expected heat of Midwestern summers. The hydration breaks that have been controversial in so many matches suddenly became a blessing as players from both sides fought through dehydration and cramps.
Colombia had breezed through the group stage, conceding only a single goal in wins over Uzbekistan and Congo and a draw with Portugal. Los Cafeteros had been so impressive that Spain coach Luis de la Fuente — whose own team is considered among the tournament favorites — tapped them as “a candidate to win the World Cup.”
Their fans certainly believe in them.
The home of the NFL’s Chiefs has three levels of seats with a band of yellow ones sandwiched between red. Yet the entire bowl of the stadium just east of downtown Kansas City was awash in the vibrant yellow of Colombia some 2 hours before kickoff.
Ghana knew it would be an underdog. Yet the team that failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations last year for the first time in nearly two decades had already answered plenty of critics by surviving a difficult group topped by England and Croatia.
The question as it faced Colombia: Could Ghana mount enough offense?
As expected, Los Cafeteros dominated the ball — the Black Stars had possessed it just 36.1% of the time in the group stage, second-least of any team that advanced, and those offensive issues continued against Colombia. Even when Ghana managed to put together an attack, Colombia was there to quickly counter with the speed of Suárez, Díaz and its midfielders.
Ghana wound up taking eight shots. None of them were on goal.
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See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here
Dave Skretta, The Associated Press
