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COLOMBIA

How they played in the World Cup qualifiers: Even though Colombia did not win any of the last four qualifying matches, the team still managed to qualify for the World Cup. The team of Jose Pekerman had problems competing with the strongest teams – in the fights against Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil they managed to tie in only two out of six matches. They turned out to be successful in the matches against teams which theoretically were the weaker ones in the group. However, the best match of the Colombian national team was the match against Brazil. After an exciting fight and the first goal of William, Radamel Falcao answered in the second half and the match ended in a draw.

The greatest success at the World Cup: The objective of the Jose Pekerman's team is clear: to achieve at least the same result as at the World Cup in Brazil, where the team reached the quarter-finals and lost after a brutal and closely fought match against the hosts. However, the earlier matches of that tournament confirmed the great potential of Colombia – the team won four matches, scored 12 goals and promoted James Rodriguez who was playing fantastically and his market value increased significantly. The World Cup in Russia is the fifth World Cup for Colombia. Their first World Cup dates back to 1962 and ended at the group stage. In 1990 the Colombian national team reached the round of 16 and in 1994 and 1998 they were eliminated after the group stage.

Profile of the coach: José Néstor Pekerman was born on 3 September 1949 in the Argentine town of Villa Domínguez. He was a player of the Argentine club Argentinos Juniors and of Colombian  Independiente Medellín. After the end of his career, he was a coach of the youth teams of Argentina. The World Cup is not a new thing for Jose Pekerman. Apart from his participation in the World Cup with the Colombian national team in 2014, he also took part in this event as the head coach in 2006, when his team lost in the match against Germany in the quarter-finals after penalty kicks. Later he was the coach of two clubs in Mexico. Pekerman also had a proposal, for instance, from Japan but he chose the national team of Colombia. Since the moment he became the head coach of the Colombian national team, they won 56% out of 70 matches. Pekerman is known mainly for his passion for tactics; he likes to arrange everything on the pitch in such a way that the best players, namely Radamel Falcao and James Rodriguez, can benefit from it.

Profile of the biggest stars: Today the star is not a club colleague of Robert Lewandowski, but ... of Kamil Glik. Radamel Falcao was born on 10 February 1986 in the town of Santa Marta. The Colombian striker and the player representing AS Monaco is the most effective player in the Colombian national team. Interestingly, this is the first World Cup in Falcao's career. Four years ago, unfortunately, a serious injury eliminated him from the participation in the event. These health problems slowed down his career. His loans to Manchester United and Chelsea weren't successful at all. However, after his return to Monaco for the previous season he came back to his best form during the years in Atletico Madrid. He regained the old good verve and effectiveness and he started to impress the fans with his goal-scoring skills again.

Win-loss record in the matches against the Polish national team: 3-0-2, 7-8.

SENEGAL

How they played in the World Cup qualifiers: The national team of Senegal competed in the second round of the African section with the team of Madagascar in home and away matches. The first away match of the Senegalese national football team ended in a draw 2-2. In the second leg they beat the opponents 3-0 and advanced to the next stage. In the third round, already in the group stage, the national team of Senegal played against the teams of Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and the Republic of South Africa. In six matches of the group stage, they won four times and tied two times which allowed them to obtain 5 points more than the national team of Burkina Faso.

The greatest success at the World Cup: the history of the participation of Senegal in the World Cup is very poor. The World Cup in Russia will be their second  World Cup. They advanced for the first time in 2002. Their performance got a lot of publicity because they reached the quarter-finals. Senegal was promoted to the knockout stage with the second highest number of points. They caused a sensation at the very beginning when they won the match against the team which was trying to defend the title of the world champion - France. The winning goal was scored by Papa Bouba Diop. Later, in the group matches, they tied with Danes and Uruguayans. In the round of 16, they eliminated Swedes, and the tournament ended after the narrow defeat in the match against Turkey.

Profile of coach: the coach of the national team of Senegal is Aliou Cissé who was born on 24 March 1976 in Ziguinchor. Before he started his coaching career, he had played for such clubs as Paris Saint-Germain, Birmingham City, Portsmouth FC. Aliou Cissé had also played 36 matches for the national team with which he participated in the World Cup in Korea and Japan. After retiring he became a pro team head coach of the Senegalese national team and then he was replaced by Joseph Koto. Between 2013 and 2015 he worked as a coach of the Senegal youth team, and then he became the head coach of the national team. In 2017, he and his national team advanced to the African Cup of Nations. In the tournament, his charges reached the quarter-finals, but they didn't manage to defeat the later winner – Cameroon. However, they lost after a long fight and the penalty shoot-out.  Cisse led the team to an easy qualification for the World Cup. His team did not lose any of six matches, which ensured them the promotion.

Profile of the biggest star: Sadio Mané is considered to be the biggest star of the Senegalese national team. He was born on 10 April 1992 in Sedhiou. The footballer started his adventure with the senior football in the Metz club and later he represented the Red Bull Salzburg club for two seasons. After his performances in the Austrian club, he was sent to Great Britain and signed the contract with Southampton FC. He played there for two years and then his career was directed to Liverpool. "The Reds" paid EUR 41 million for the Senegalese player. In the history of the Club from Anfield Road, only one player was more expensive. It was Andy Carroll. However, the investment paid off very quickly because today the Senegalese player is one of the biggest stars of the team from Liverpool, with which he reached the Champions League final. Currently, the value of the ace of the coach Aliou Cisse is calculated to be 60 million euros. The winger ended the last season in the Premier League with ten goals and seven assists. Besides, the greatest successes of Sadio Mané also include the winning of Austrian Championship twice and of two Austrian Cup competitions as a member of Red Bull Salzburg.

Win-loss record in the matches against the Polish national team: none.

JAPAN

How they played in the World Cup qualifiers: Japan, due to its position in the FIFA ranking – one of the highest positions, started the qualifiers from the second round. The Japanese national team won seven out of eight matches (they tied only with Singapore) and was promoted to the next stage without any problems. The competition continued until the very end, but eventually, the Japanese proved to be the best in group B, leaving Saudi Arabia, Australia, U.A.E., Iraq and Thailand far behind.

The greatest success at the World Cup: The national team of Japan appeared at the World Cup for the first time in 1998 and since then they have regularly qualified for the tournament. In the last five performances in the World Cup, they managed to get promoted to the round of 16 only twice. In 2002, as a co-host of the competition, Japan was eliminated from the World Cup in the round of 16 after the match against the most surprising team of the World Cup -Turkey. Eight years later their participation in the World Cup ended at the same stage. In 2010 the Japanese failed to cope with the Paraguayans who turned out to be more successful after the penalty shoot-out.

Profile of the coach: Over two months before the beginning of the World Cup in Russia the head coach of the Japanese national team was suddenly replaced. Vahid Halilhodžić who led the team to the World Cup was replaced with Akira Nishino. The Japanese coach was born on 7 April 1955 in  Saitama. He started his youth career in the Waseda University team and during the senior career he was playing in the Hitachi Kashiwa Reysolin club for twelve years. After retiring, he decided to start working as a coach. Recently, the 63-year-old Akira Nishino has acted as the technical director of the Japanese national team. His CV includes such achievements as being the coach of the Japanese national team during the Olympic Games in 1996. In the past, Nishino also coached such teams as Nagoya Grampus, Vissel Kobe, Gamba Osaka or Kashiwa Reysol.

Profile of the biggest star: Shinji Kagawa. Apart from Shunsuke Nakamura and Yuto Nagatomo, he is so far the most recognisable Japanese football player of recent years. Kagawa was born on 17 March 1989 in Kobe. He started his adventure with football in the youth team of Marino AFC and became recognised in the senior team of Cerezo Osaka, of which he was a leading figure. He appeared in Europe in 2010 and started to play for Borussia Dortmund. He was a member of the Japanese national football team at that time. He made his debut in the national team as a nineteen-year-old boy. After two seasons spent at the Signal Iduna Park and after winning the German Bundesliga twice, the outstanding Japanese from Borussia Dortmund was acquired by Manchester United. After his first season in England, Kagawa could add the title of Football League Champion to his account. However, the adventure with the "Red Devils" came to an end in 2014, and Kagawa ended the season with his performance at the World Cup. After the tournament, the player born in Kobe came back to Borussia Dortmund where he has been playing to this day.

Win-loss record in the matches against the Polish national team: 2-0-4, 10-13.

Jacek Janczewski

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