England has defeated Colombia in a penalty shootout and secured their place in the World Cup quarter-finals last night.
Harry Kane gave his nation the lead with a penalty, but Yerry Mina equalized late on to send the match to extra time. Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca missed decisive penalties for Colombia, and Eric Dier fired England through.
England has now reached their first World Cup quarter-final since 2006, and optimism and excitement are building ahead of Saturday’s quarter-final against Sweden.
Sweden are no strangers to playing England... 🇸🇪 pic.twitter.com/web76Bhx0s
— B/R Football (@brfootball) July 4, 2018
Colombia made their intentions clear from the start: They were up for a scrap, and the first half lacked clear goal-scoring opportunities for both sides.
The most talked about moment came as the video referee system was debated again. Prior to a dangerous free kick for England, Wilmar Barrios headbutted Jordan Henderson, but the referee only showed him a yellow card. The decision should have been a red card, but it wasn’t overturned. Another poor mistake from the officials denied England at this tournament.
Second Half
England made the breakthrough ten minutes into the second half, as Harry Kane was hauled to the floor by Carlos Sanchez in the box. The penalty was awarded. Despite efforts to put him off, Kane inevitably kept his nerve and stroked the ball down the middle, beyond David Ospina.
Harry Kane has scored 6 goals at this #WorldCup, tying Gary Lineker in 1986 for most by an #ENG player at a single World Cup.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2018
Only Lineker (10) has more goals all-time for #ENG at the #WorldCup than Kane pic.twitter.com/SVWYbyGpwC
The Spurs hitman netted his sixth goal of the tournament, as English fans went crazy. Only a few minutes later, England should have made it two. Kieran Trippier lofted a cross towards the back post, and Dele Alli nodded a header narrowly over the bar.
Into the last ten minutes, Kyle Walker made a catastrophic error that could have haunted England. His stray pass in England’s half eventually lead to Juan Cuadrado hammering the ball wide, the high strike should have been on target.
England got away with one, and another when Mateus Uribe hit a speculative strike from distance, on the volley. The strike was fantastic, but Jordan Pickford made one of the saves of the tournament to deny him. However, the hard work was undone as Colombia equalized from the resulting corner.
Cuadrado whipped in the corner, and Yerry Mina headed it in. His effort was low into the bottom left corner, but Kieran Trippier should have done better as he deflected the ball in off the underside of the bar with his head.
YERRY MINA COMES UP CLUTCH! The center back equalizes late for Colombia! pic.twitter.com/NEVTTpghqp
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 3, 2018
Extra time was uneventful, as a tired England side looked shell-shocked after a late sucker punch. The best chances fell to Tottenham’s Danny Rose and Eric Dier. Rose arrowed a shot towards the right-hand post as the ball fell wide, whilst Dier missed a free header from a corner. It wasn’t enough, and the contest was decided with a penalty shootout.
The shootout
Radamel Falcao lifted his penalty centrally into the roof of the net. Kane hit his fourth penalty of the competition as he placed the ball into the bottom left. Cuadrado and Marcus Rashford also kept their nerve, as the two were well matched.
Luis Muriel was next, and he sent Pickford the wrong way as he placed the ball into the bottom right corner. Jordan Henderson became the first taker to miss, as Ospina tipped his effort around the post. It was a good height for the goalkeeper.
Uribe took the next one, and he got underneath it too much and lifted the ball onto the bar and out, a real lifeline for Gareth Southgate. Kieran Trippier made it level once more as he placed the ball high into the top left-hand corner, one of the best penalties overall. Carlos Bacca became the villain for Colombia, as his shot which was headed towards the top left, was denied by Pickford. That meant that the responsibility to send England through fell to Eric Dier.
He succeeded. Ospina got a hand to his low effort, but wouldn’t deny him. England is through, and Colombia is heartbroken.
England FINALLY won in penalties and their fans celebrated accordingly! pic.twitter.com/bCrsFpTJGx
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 4, 2018
This was England’s first ever World Cup penalty shootout win and the first in all competitions since Euro 1996. This result has proven that Southgate’s lads have the mentality to prove themselves worthy. They now can look to the quarterfinals with Sweden up next, with genuine optimism.