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24th Jun 2014

JOE-pan made us dream briefly, but they exit the World Cup as Greece join Colombia

Colombia and Greece go through to the last 16. The Ivory Coast and, sadly, JOE-pan are going home.

Tony Cuddihy

Shinki Okazaki gave us one, brief, moment of hope before Japan’s World Cup exit was confirmed.

As any self-proclaimed JOE fan will know, we threw our backing behind JOE-pan in the World Cup.

For a brief period, we thought we’d be downing tools and crooning Bill Murray-style in the nearest karaoke bar.

Jackson Martinez scored twice to make it 3-1 to Colombia, with James Rodriguez once again central and it was fitting that the young playmaker would score in the final stages to make it 4-1.

Meanwhile, there was high drama in Fortoleza as a last-minute penalty from Georgios Samaras stole a 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast and a last 16 meeting with Costa Rica.