Japanese budget options have put themselves on the World Cup Fantasy Gameround 3 radar after another positive result.
Meanwhile, those who kept faith in their Colombian players were rewarded on Sunday night after Poland were dispatched 3-0.
We’ve got the rest of yesterday’s World Cup action right here. CLICK HERE to read all about England’s win over Panama.
JAPAN 2-2 SENEGAL
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Takashi Inui (£4.5m) – 9 points
- Moussa Wague (£4.5m) – 7 points
- Sadio Mane (£8.5m) – 6 points
- Keisuke Honda (£6.0m) – 6 points
- M’Baye Niang (£5.5m) – 4 points
- Yuto Nagatomo (£5.0m) – 4 points
Takashi Inui was the key Fantasy asset in Japan’s 2-2 draw with Senegal on Sunday afternoon. The £4.5m midfielder, who lines up as a left-forward, chipped in with a goal and an assist to register a nine-point haul for his four percent ownership.
Thus far at the tournament, nobody has had more shots in the penalty area than Inui among midfielders, making him a prime target for investment in Gameround 3.
It was a more familiar face that opened the scoring in this meeting, though, as Sadio Mane (£8.5m) bundled the ball over the line in the 11th minute. There was no assist on the goal after goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima (£4.5m) punched a clearance into the Liverpool man, who knew very little about the finish.
Japan got back into the match in the 34th minute thanks to an excellent goal from Inui. Left-back Yuto Nagatomo (£5.0m)’s run into the penalty box crossed paths with Inui, who assumed control of the ball and bent an effort into the bottom right-hand corner.
In a very open second-half it was Senegal who took the lead again. Striker M’Baye Niang (£5.5m) flashed a shot across the Japanese goal and it was 19-year-old defender Moussa Wague who swept fiercely home at the far post.
Talismanic figure Keisuke Honda (£6.0m) was the saviour for Japan in 78th minute. Coming on as a substitute for Shinji Kagawa (£6.5m), he got on the end of Inui’s drag back in the box to equalise. Now a 32-year-old, the former AC Milan midfielder is now the top-scoring Asian player in World Cups.
JAPAN XI (4-2-3-1): Kawashima; Nagatomo, Shoji, Yoshida, H Sakai; Shibasaki, Hasebe; Inui (Usami 87’), Kagawa (Honda 72’), Haraguchi (Okazaki 75’); Osako.
SENEGAL XI (4-1-4-1): K N’Diaye; Sabaly, Koulibaly, Sane, Wague; A N’Diaye (Kouyate 65’); Mane, Gueye, B N’Diaye (N’Doye 81’), Sarr; Niang (Diouf 86’).
POLAND 0-3 COLOMBIA
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Yerry Mina (£5.5m) – 12 points
- James Rodriguez (£9.0m) – 9 points
- Juan Cuadrado (£8.0m) – 8 points
- Radamel Falcao (£8.5m) – 6 points
- Juan Fernando Quintero (£5.5m) – 6 points
- David Ospina (£5.5m) – 6 points
- Davison Sanchez (£5.5m) – 6 points
- Santiago Arias (£5.5m) – 6 points
- Johan Mojica (£4.5m) – 6 points
Colombia’s Fantasy assets finally hit the ground running in Russia as they combined to eliminate Group H favourites Poland.
Defender Yerry Mina (£5.5m) registered a goal and a clean sheet while James Rodriguez (£9.0m) picked up two assists as he displayed shades of his 2014 performance.
Mina was the first Colombian to strike, his goal coming in the 40th minute. In the breakdown following a corner Rodriguez lofted a perfectly weight ball into the six-yard box for Mina to head home.
Both of Los Cafeteros’ goals in the second-half came from well-executed counter-attacks. In the 70th minute midfielder Juan Fernando Quintero (£5.5m) played an excellent through-ball to Radamel Falcao (£8.5m) who slotted home his first ever World Cup goal.
Juan Cuadrado (£8.0m) completed the scoring five minutes later after an exquisite sweeping cross-field ball from Rodriguez sent him through on goal for a simple finish.
Colombia’s defence all kept clean sheets for the first time at the tournament.
POLAND XI (3-4-2-1): Szczesny; Pazdan (Glik 80’), Bednarek, Piszczek; Rybus, Goralski, Krychowiak, Bereszynski (Teodorczyk 72’); Kownacki (Grosicki 57’), Zielinski; Lewandowski.
COLOMBIA XI (4-2-3-1): Ospina; Mojica, D Sanchez, Mina, Arias; Barrios, Aguilar (Uribe 32’); Rodriguez, Quintero (Lerma 73’), Cuadrado; Falcao (Bacca 78’).
World Cup Data
We’re delighted to offer World Cup data as an early addition to our regular season offering to help those playing Fantasy games over the summer.
We’ve secured Opta data, not only for the tournament itself, but also from the Qualifying Rounds for Europe and South America and for international friendlies involving the participating nations. This includes all the matches played right up to the tournament kick-off.
Just to stress, this World Cup offering comes packaged with the regular Fantasy Football Scout membership.
Check out this new trailer previewing the World Cup content below…
McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy
Join our McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy league ‘FantasyFootballScout’ using the code: HEWJPVYR
Fantasy iTeam
Fantasy Football Scout is supporting Fantasy iTeam, a free World Cup game available on a number of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch and Android. We have an official Fantasy Football Scout League open to UK users only, with a £1000 of Amazon vouchers to give out, split between the top three performers. There’s also the small matter of £10k worth of prizes available in the main competitions: Overall World Championship and Manager of the Gameround.
Click here for details and here to sign up.
Our League name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 1887.
Please note, users must be over 18 and based in the UK to join our league.
