Colombia walked into Guadalajara expecting a comfortable evening.
They got a wrestling match instead.
90 minutes of huffing, puffing, and praying.
And one man almost ruined the entire script.
His name? Lionel Mpasi.
The DR Congo goalkeeper turned the World Cup stage into his personal highlight reel. ✋
Five saves in the first 20 minutes alone.
A World Cup record for that opening stretch.
James Rodriguez tried. Denied.
Luis Diaz tried. Denied.
Jhon Arias tried. Denied again.
By half-time, Colombia had played like favourites… and looked like a team running out of ideas.
Mpasi finished with 8 saves. The kind of night goalkeepers frame and hang on the wall.
Juan Quintero spotted the gap nobody else did.
One clever pass. One perfectly-timed run.
Daniel Munoz — a defender, of all people — burst into the box and drilled it low to the near post.
A tiny deflection. A keeper wrong-footed. A nation exhaling.
1-0. Finally.
This is now three straight World Cups where Colombia have escaped the group stage.
A quiet streak that nobody talks about — but should.
And yet… the warning signs are loud.
Dominating possession isn't the same as winning games.
Creating chances isn't the same as taking them.
Because next up?
Portugal. For top spot.
Cristiano's side won't gift them 8 saves worth of chances. They'll get two. Maybe three.
Munoz got the goal. Mpasi stole the headlines.
But the real lesson sits somewhere in between:
At a World Cup, wastefulness is a luxury you can only afford once.
Colombia just used theirs.
That's all for now!
