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Colombia lose James Rodriguez but win Group H as fair play dooms Senegal

SAMARA, Russia -- Three thoughts on Colombia's 1-0 win vs. Senegal in Group H at the World Cup.

1. Yellow card accumulation denies Senegal

Colombia have turned their World Cup campaign around to win Group H but the bigger story here was about how it was lost.

When Yerry Mina scored the winning goal, towering to convert a superb header from Juan Quintero's corner, it meant Senegal had an identical record to that of Japan in terms of points, goal difference, goals scored and conceded and head-to-head results.

The next tiebreaker was fair play and, on account of two yellow cards picked up in added time at the end of their draw with the Japanese on Sunday, Senegal will leave Russia early.