Twitter Reacts as Japan Beat Colombia to Create World Cup History

Another day. Another match. Another humdinger! Japan kicked off their World Cup campaign in a glorious fashion as they triumphed over Los Cafeteros with a marginal scoreline of 2-1.

In the early minutes of the game, there was controversial drama as Carlos Sanchez was handed the first red card of the tournament for stopping a goal-bound shot of Shinji Kagawa with a raised arm in the box.

A cool-headed Shinji Kagawa opened the scoring for The Blue Samurai by effortlessly converting the penalty. With Colombia down to 10 men, Juan Fernando Quintero then eased tensions by equalising with a cheeky goal as he shot an under-the-wall free-kick.

In the second half, with 73 minutes on the clock, Yuya Osako gave Japan the lead with his match-winning header from the corner.

Here's how Twitter reacted to the encounter.

1 - Japan have become the first ever Asian side to defeat a South American team at the World Cup (P18 W1 D3 L14). Momentous.#JPN #COLJPN #WorldCup #COL pic.twitter.com/Ma3DWkfVKN

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 19, 2018

"Why are teams like Saudi Arabia here?"After the first round of matches, Asian teams have the same number of wins as North and South American teams combined.

— Daniel Storey (@danielstorey85) June 19, 2018

Colombia. Mood. pic.twitter.com/avVqsBm3dF

— FK ☕️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@fkhanage) June 19, 2018

pic.twitter.com/p0s1m8Goc8

— Andy Ha (@_AndyHa) June 19, 2018

FT #COL 1-2 #JPN Japan win only their fifth ever #WorldCup game thanks to goals from Kagawa and Osako. #COLJPN 👉 https://t.co/aiMfHSDZGM pic.twitter.com/Tyif7Kn8Ph

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 19, 2018

A big win for #JPN!#COLJPN pic.twitter.com/qiLBAGk8QW

— FIFA World Cup 🏆 (@FIFAWorldCup) June 19, 2018

Full time at the Mordovia Arena: Colombia 1 - 2 Japan.#WorldCup #COL #JPN #COLJPN pic.twitter.com/3g0FbSnmkg

— 🇨🇴 vs 🇯🇵 Football Tweet (@Football__Tweet) June 19, 2018

Only one man can save #COL now. #worldcup pic.twitter.com/qAWDkBcUMj

— 9GAG Football ⚽ (@9GAGFootball) June 19, 2018

What is the point of VAR officials if they're not spotting clear fouls. Falcao fouled the Japanese defender yet won the free-kick #COLJPN 🤔

— Ali (@RoyMustang786) June 19, 2018

I'm in favour of video and goal line tech. But what's the point if ref makes unpredictable decisions that can't be reversed? Never a free kick therefore Columbia goal shouldn't have happened. Just one example amongst many. #COLJPN

— one (@onemarcoms) June 19, 2018

When the second shortest team at the World Cup score a header against you off a corner kick, you seriously need to look at your defending. #COLJPN

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) June 19, 2018

3 - Keisuke Honda is the first player from an Asian nation to provide an assist in three different World Cup tournaments since 1966. Delivery. #JPN #COLJPN #WorldCup

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 19, 2018

This is how you stop that kind of free kick, and I’m surprised it isn’t more common. #WorldCup #COLJPN pic.twitter.com/TL7GllqLWe

— NUFCThreatLevel (@NUFCThreatLevel) June 19, 2018

Colombia fans when they see James Rodriguez enter the game #COLJPN pic.twitter.com/zISg22U5fZ

— Francisco Bernard 🇩🇴 (@Francisco4x) June 19, 2018

Me at the start of the game vs. Me 6 minutes in this game. #COLJPN pic.twitter.com/54J4BCpZbP

— Madara (@servusjames) June 19, 2018

Waiting for James to score a goal like #COLJPN pic.twitter.com/ocPTGZ1d3X

— Abirami (@iamabirella) June 19, 2018

I can't believe Japan is ahead of a Colombia with James Rodriguez and Falcao. Japan recently fired their coach and were not expected to win this game. #COLJPN

— Kouichi Shirayanagi (@Whitewillow64) June 19, 2018