Colombia squeeze past dogged Uzbekistan to open World Cup campaign with victory

Some very good things have come from Croydon, the often overlooked town in south London. The film director David Lean was born there, as was the singer Amy Winehouse, the actor Peggy Ashcroft and the sexologist Havelock Ellis. Roy Hodgson comes from Croydon. The Bill and Peep Show were filmed there, as was the title sequence of the 1980s sitcom Terry and June. For a long time it was a centre of brewing and leather production. It was on a suburban driveway there that Pickles found the Jules Rimet trophy after it had been stolen in 1966. And on Wednesday Croydon proved the crucible of the remarkable goal that gave Colombia the lead against Uzbekistan.

Daniel Muñoz’s brilliant strike, created by Jefferson Lerma, set Colombia on their way to a victory that should never have been as edgy as it ended up being. It was, in truth, a game desperately in need of something special. In Lean’s greatest film, Lawrence of Arabia undertook an arduous trek across the Nefud Desert to lead an attack on Aqaba, but even he may have baulked at the journey those travelling to the Azteca had to undertake from central Mexico City. Heavy rain led to huge puddles and numerous crashes. The verges alongside the Anillo Periférico were dotted with battered vehicles. For the final two or three miles the roads were lined with a ragged procession of fans who had abandoned their buses and taxis to walk. A trip that should have lasted just over an hour took more than four. Magnificent the Azteca
may be, but it is not a modern football ground. Chaos swirls around it; nothing there really works.

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