First published by Ace Magazine, June 2014.

There are moments in which a single image can transcend any sport, any encounter and make it almost meaningless but also be seen as the pinnacle of humanity’s endeavour to push ourselves harder and better each time we wake up in the morning. The very human emotion of shedding a tear in front of a watching world, perhaps even letting the floodgates open and letting grief take its natural place in the world, not to let it bottle up inside as you would expect a robot to do. This enduring image was captured by television cameras inside the Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha as Ivory Coast midfielder Serey Die showed the world exactly how much a person he was during the national anthems before this open ended, superbly evenly matched game between the Ivory Coast and Columbia.

It was the right image, the correct context in which to see such an image, to understand why we push ourselves we do and why family support and remembrance, no matter how small it can be given, is important. For Serey Die, a million hearts would have been with him and there would have been many who shed a tear for him.

They would no doubt have shed a tear for the Ivory Coast also at the end of a game in which most would never have wanted to finish, a game which for the neutral would have been enthralled and reveled in to the point of exhaustion and left them slavering over just how good a game these two sides can provide.

However any thought of poignancy, of cheering on the brave Serey Die’s side would have been far from the minds of this very talented Columbian side who are going to provide extremely tough opposition to any side coming their way in the next couple of weeks and in who James Rodríguez is a player in which to believe in the stamina of an athlete and the sublime caress of a ball that marks him out as very special.

The Ivory Coast may have lost 2-1 but they provided excellent opposition. Yaya Touré may have looked out of sorts in the first half, perhaps far beyond the boundary of physical exertion after a brilliant season with Manchester City but in the second, once freed from the restrains that kept, for him, strangely quiet and with the appearance of ex-Chelsea man  Didier Drogba as a late second half substitute, it was nothing short of a shame that he wasn’t able to convert one of the many chances to give the Ivory Coast a share of the spoils.

Three well taken goals settled this dynamic game. James Rodríguez scoring his second of the tournament and Juan Fernando Quintero, himself also a second half substitute, bagged his debut international goal before Gervinho made the last few minutes interesting by scoring a wonderfully well executed goal.

With the Japan V Greece game scheduled for later in the day, Columbia were left perhaps with slight nerves on how they would end the day, however the 0-0 affair between the 2004 European Champions and men from Japan hardly set the world alight and made sure that Columbia took their rightful place in the last 16 with ease. For the Ivory Coast, for Serey Die, their route still has a hurdle to cross but if there is justice then the men from Africa, the lions of the Sub-Sahara, will grace the last 16 as much as they have in the group stages.

An entertaining game for which both sides could have easily won.

Columbia: David Ospina, Juan Camilo Zúñiga, Cristián Zapata, Mario Yepes, Pablo Armero, Abel Aguilar, Carlos Sánchez, Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, James Rodríguez, Víctor Ibarbo, Teófilo Gutiérrez.

Substitutes: Juan Fernando Quintero, Santiago Arias, Alexander Mejía

Ivory Coast: Boubacar Barry, Serge Aurier, Didier Zokora, Sol Bamba, Arthur Boka, Serey Die, Cheick Tioté, Gervinho, Yaya Touré, Max Gradel, Wilfried Bony.

Substitues: Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou, Mathis Bolly.

Venue:  Estádio Nacional Mané Garrincha, Brasília.

Scorers: Columbia: James Rodríguez, Juan Fernando Quintero. Ivory Coast: Gervinho.

Final Score: Columbia 2-1 Ivory Coast.

Man of the Match: James Rodríguez.

Referee: Howard Webb, England.

Ian D. Hall