Colombia player sent off for comical attempt to stop a shot with his arm

Colombia's game with Japan on Tuesday afternoon saw the first red card of the 2018 World Cup.

Colombia midfielder Carlos Sanchez received his marching orders after just three minutes, as the South American's made the worst start possible to their Group H encounter. Yuya Osako ran through on goal after collecting a long pass over the top. The Japanese forward saw his shot saved by David Ospina and the ball rebounded to Shinji Kagawa, who took a shot at the open goal. Sanchez stuck out an arm to stop the shot, and the referee correctly awarded a penalty. The former Aston Villa midfielder, however, spent a couple of minutes protesting the decision. Even if the referee had not have seen him stop the ball with his arm, his act would have been detected by the VAR system. It was a costly move to make, as Kagawa scored the subsequent penalty and Colombia had to play with 10 men for almost the entire game. Sanchez's decision to stop a shot with his arm was reminiscent of Luis Saurez at the 2010 World Cup, when the Uruguay forward handled a goal-bound effort on the goal-line against Ghana.