1 hour ago
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Key events
90+2 min Sow threads a ball into the penalty area and Ndoye tries to direct it on target from a tight angle but it rolls away from danger. Rubén Vargas replaces Ndoye.
The Switzerland penalty shout – for a challenge from Sánchez on Rieder – is a perhaps valid one. VAR not interested.
90 min Another desperate penalty shout as Rieder goes down in the Colombia box. Nothing given.
Five minutes added.
89 min Díaz cuts inside and swings a cross to the back post. Campaz is there but goes down as Ndoye throws an arm out after him. Risky.
87 min Embolo’s afternoon is up – Cedric Itten replaces him. Zakaria heads off too, with Silvan Widmar on in his place.
86 min Díaz has a chance to run at Zakaria, who is on a yellow, but turns it out. It’s played inside and Campaz thumps a cross into a Switzerland defender.
“Lerma is *always* a yellow card waiting to happen,” writes Jim Forrester. Fair point.
84 min Ndoye does well, speeding past Muñoz into the area but the Colombia right-back gets back to deflect the cross out for a corner. Rieder’s delivery is not met by anybody and Colombia counter in numbers … and it’s wasted.
82 min Néstor Lorenzo looks to his Colombia bench again. Richard Ríos and Cucho Hernández replace Suárez and Lerma, who has been a yellow card waiting to happen.
80 min Switzerland apply some pressure but are let down first by a poor cross from Rieder and then by a poorer cross from Zakaria.
There’s a bit of needle between Sánchez and Embolo that starts with a push in the chest and ends in a handshake.
78 min Akanji hits a very wayward pass out for a goal-kick. I think he was trying to find Embolo but, really, who knows.
76 min There’s a real lack of quality from both teams in the final third, summed up by a poor low cross from Campaz when the Switzerland defence is opened up. The flag is up anyway.
74 min Both players are all right and there’s a sporting handshake between them.
73 min Ndoye wins a free-kick wide of the Colombia box off Muñoz. Rieder swings it in, Sánchez clears and the ball is fed back in. Vargas comes to punch and absolutely wipes Embolo out with a knee in the back. He gets his fists to the ball but it’s a nasty collision.
71 min Switzerland bring on Miro Muheim for Ricardo Rodriguez, meaning we have lost both of our Rodriguez’s. Oh well.
“This is an odd match in that it’s promised to be interesting, since the first minute, without ever actually being interesting,” writes Kári Tulinius. “It’s like one of these strikers who needs a goal to come off his arse. Usually I don’t like to see a mistake in a game like this, but I’d welcome one now. There’s a lot of tinder, but no spark.”
There’s still time (and probably a lot of it) …
68 min The wind is taken out of Colombia’s sails by the drinks break. It is indeed Bon Jovi on the speakers.
66 min You sense Colombia are gaining a bit of momentum. Elvedi perhaps senses this too and goes down holding his lip after Díaz cuts across him.
Double change for Colombia – James Rodríguez makes way for Juan Quintero. Jhon Arias also comes off, with Jaminton Campaz on.
64 min Suddenly the goal opens up for Suárez after he wins the ball off Xhaka. The striker pulls the trigger on the edge of the box and wildly skews his shot wide. He does the customary scowl at the turf, which was blameless.
62 min It’s getting a bit tasty. Suárez is bumped over on halfway by Akanji, who can’t believe he’s been penalised. Mojica tries a cross from the corner flag and Elvedi hooks it clear.
60 min Zakaria goes into the book as he slides in on Díaz on halfway and gets none of the ball and plenty of the man. Murat Yakin looks worried about that. Díaz turns and shoots on the edge of the box. It’s easy for Kobel but it whips up the crowd. Suárez gets booked for holding on to Kobel.
58 min Rodríguez tries to send Muñoz away down the right but Akanji is there to cover. Switzerland try to break themselves but the final ball doesn’t find its target. It’s a running theme.
56 min Whistles as Switzerland move the ball around swiftly in the Colombia half. They’ve started the second half better. Zakaria wins another tussle with Díaz down the left.
Gianni Infantino appears on the big screen and there are very loud boos around the ground.
54 min Rieder bends the free-kick round the wall left-footed and it hits the side-netting in a way that makes half the ground – and me – think for a second that it had gone in.
52 min Muñoz is fine to continue, through gritted teeth. Switzerland win a free-kick on the left of the box after Rieder evades Sánchez and is tripped.
51 min Muñoz beats Xhaka to the ball but both players slide into each other. Muñoz stays down but Xhaka gets up to help out as Colombia counter. Rodríguez searches for the run of Arias but the ball bounces out for a goal-kick.
Xhaka gets a yellow for standing on Muñoz’s foot.
49 min Switzerland want a penalty as Ndoye goes down under Muñoz’s challenge in the box. There’s the hint of a shirt/short pull. We move on.
47 min Sánchez responds well to match an Embolo run in behind. Switzerland recycle it, Ndoye sends a low cross into the box and the substitute Sow slips and skews his shot over!
We’re back under way: Djibril Sow has replaced Jashari in the Switzerland midfield.
Half-time mailbag
“If Colombia win this game, here’s an amazing historical fact about the four quarter-final ties. Each pair of countries were at one time in the same empire! Belgium was the Spanish Netherlands from 1556 until 1714. Argentina and Colombia were both part of Spain’s South American empire. Morocco was part of French West Africa. And England and Norway were for a short time in the 11th century ruled by Cnut the Great. If you print this, be sure not to make a Grauniad-type misprint out of that name now! Supporting Colombia tonight for this reason only,” – Frank Pennycook
“There are quite a few excellent coffee roasters in Vancouver despite the commenter who writes them off as bitter. There are some tired roasters of which the observation is true (e.g. Salt Spring) but try e.g. Milano with their v nice cafes on Commercial Drive and on 8th Ave in Mount Pleasant or Mogiana, available in good grocery stores” – Michael Ledger-Lomas continues Vancouver coffee chat
“Well, I had quite a pleasant nap through that first half. things can only get better, as suggested half time music” – Colin Livingstone
“I love how Swiss manager Murat Yakin has got into the theme of today’s match by dressing as a 1980s Colombian bad guy from the Miami Vice tv series,” writes Matt Leonard.
Half-time: Switzerland 0-0 Colombia
No goals but a decent game. Both teams have had spells. Whether it opens up any more than this is another question … the stakes are high.
45+2 min Akanji is not happy as Switzerland refuse to swing a free-kick into the box and it ends up out for a throw.
45 min Just the three minutes added. The ball has been in play a lot.
44 min Díaz drives inside, feeds it out to Muñoz on the right. The cross is low, Suárez heeds a shout from Díaz behind him and dummies it. Freuler gets there just in time to divert it out for a corner. Mojica sprints back to stop a Switzerland counter.
42 min Jashari tries to pick out Xhaka with a pass in behind the Colombia back four. The Switzerland captain doesn’t look best pleased as the ball bobbles through out of his reach.
40 min Akanji has his pocket picked on the edge of his own area by Rodríguez. He thinks about shooting from range and instead lays it off to Suárez, who dummies and then has a shot blocked. Another ball goes into the box and Díaz pulls out of a bicycle kick as Zakaria’s head beats him to it.
VAR overturns a Colombia corner after replays showed it came off Arias. It’s not a popular decision.
38 min Colombia are looking for Díaz down the left nearly every time they break forward. This time Suárez’s pass is overhit – he was fouled too.
36 min Rodríguez feeds a wonderful ball through to Muñoz near the penalty area but the right-back can’t get there before the Switzerland defender.
“Noticed any trends on music played to hide the boos during hydration breaks?” writes Cian Mulligan. “Seems to me they always/only play the Macarena if there is a Spanish-speaking team playing.”
Any time I notice it, it’s Bon Jovi.
34 min Rodríguez pings another ball into the Switzerland box. Díaz goes down with Elvedi giving him a mild cuddle. Referee Bartón is not moved.
33 min The drinks break has helped Switzerland a lot. Ndoye is next to test Vargas. His shot is low and across the goalkeeper, who gets down smartly to trap it. Up the other end, Díaz tries to feed a shot into the far corner but it’s blocked. Rodríguez did really well in a tussle with Xhaka in midfield.
31 min Important save from Vargas! Akanji finds Rieder in plenty of space on the half-turn. He bundles the ball into the Colombia box and shoots low, with Vargas able to bat it away. Decent chance.
29 min Xhaka skips past Lerma in midfield. The Colombia midfielder duly brings him down. An unmarked Jashari almost latches on to a ball into the Colombia box, which will have jangled a few nerves in the majority of the crowd.
27 min Everybody is refreshed (under the roof) and we are back under way.
A reminder that the winners of this will play Argentina in Kansas City on Saturday night after this happened earlier …
23 min Hydration break time, still greeted by boos, which are drowned out by the Macarena.
22 min Good save from Kobel! Lerma steps in on a loose ball some 30 yards out and it’s fed to Puerta. The midfielder cuts inside on his right foot and bends a shot towards the far corner which Kobel pushes out away at full stretch. Some action!
