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Colombia 1 Japan 2: Sanchez red spoils Pekerman's plans

Colombia got off to a nightmare start when Carlos Sanchez was sent off after less than three minutes of their 2-1 defeat to Japan.

Carlos Sanchez was shown the second-fastest red card in World Cup history as Colombia slipped to a 2-1 defeat in their World Cup opener against Japan in Mordovia.

The Group H favourites suffered a nightmarish start to their campaign when Sanchez blocked Shinji Kagawa's shot with his arm after just two minutes and 56 seconds, prompting the referee to brandish the first straight red card for handball at a World Cup since Luis Suarez was sent off against Ghana in 2010.