Colombia crush Greece

South American team Colombia shrugged off the absence through injury of star striker Radamel Falcao to hammer Greece 3-0 in World Cup Group C match on Saturday. With Falcao watching from the stands, his Monaco team-mate James Rodriguez emerged as the star of the match, scoring one and setting up another for Teofile Gutierrez. Pablo Armero was the other scorer for stylish Colombia. After the match Colombia’s Argentinian coach Jose Pekerman said: ‘We are capable of scoring goals and creating chances, which is a great thing to have. The important thing is that everyone did their bit for the team and that transmits confidence. We took our chances and knew how to play as a team.’ The 32-nation FIFA World Cup football tournament is being held in different venues in Brazil. In the final game of another exhilarating day, Ivory Coast came from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in Group C in Recife, Brazil. Keisuke Honda fired Japan ahead on 16 minutes before goals from Wilfried Bony (64) and Gervinho (66) gave the African giants a winning start to the tournament, according to AFP.