MOSCOW — For the first time ever, England found a way through penalties in a World Cup tie to make the quarter-finals at the expense of Colombia after a night high on drama.
It might be time to start dreaming, for the English, who saw their team force a 1-1 draw in extra-time and then win it in the lottery.
The Three Lions now go on to meet Sweden in the last eight.
This doesn’t happen every day, you know.
Or every year, decade or century.
England have been taken to penalties on three occasions in this tournament, and lost every time.
When Jordan Henderson’s third was saved by David Ospina here, it looked as if the nation was due more of the same — more torture; more heartbreak; more wry songs making light of pain and hurt, to mask how we really feel.
But last night was different.
Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca missed for Colombia; Kieran Trippier scored for England.
Suddenly it was all down to one man.
Who would it be?
Eric Dier, ordinary against Belgium in his only start of the tournament.
Dier, who had a pass completion rate of less than 25 per cent in his first 24 minutes on the field here.
Dier – anchor man or penalty taker? Had we taken leave of our senses?
Apparently not.
Gareth Southgate, more than any England manager, know the agony of the shoot-out. That was one of the reasons he had his squad going through the routine, day after day, in training.
If Dier was the man to hold his nerve, there must be reason, number, to back that up.
Let’s be truthful, it wasn’t the cleanest, a bit scuffed and Ospina got a hand to it but not enough. There it was, in the net.
There England were: in the quarter-finals — all down to penalties.
Not just the shoot-out, but the one Harry Kane took that should have sent put England through in normal time.
The penalty that took what seemed like forever.
About the nation watching, at home. About kids in school looking up to him. And yes, it’s only a game of football.
But for three minutes and 31 seconds it must have felt like the world.
In the time elapsed between referee Mark Geiger pointing to the spot, and Kane converting the penalty that came so close to taking England to a World Cup quarter-final with Sweden in normal time, Kane must have tried to disappear into his little bubble of familiarity.
Tried but, probably, failed.
Mayhem was unfolding around him.
Colombia appeared to regard the award as the start of a symposium, as if the whistle and the pointing gesture were merely the prelude to an opening address.
Jordan Henderson, normally so cool, was shown a yellow card for flicking his head backwards towards an opponent who was particularly persistent in his attention.
He made no contact, but it’s the thought that counts.
Finally, Kane stood over the ball, with only goalkeeper Ospina in his path — Tottenham versus Arsenal, played out on the world stage.
He has always loved that fixture.
He waited for Ospina to make his move — to the left — and struck it straight down the middle, his sixth goal of the tournament, equalling Gary Lineker’s total for England at Mexico in 1986.
Three minutes and 31 seconds, to be precise.
Three minutes and 31 seconds for Kane to think — not about himself, for in these moments, individual awards are a trifle.
This was time to think about his team-mates, his country, everyone whose kindness and guidance had brought him to this point.
He has now scored in six games straight for his country.
The last to do that was Tommy Lawton in 1939. Kane feels a little Lawton-like, a little old school, a bit of a throwback.
But Lawton never knew pressure like this for his country. He never did three minutes and 31 seconds, with the nation at a standstill, heart in mouth.
Then, in added time, Mateus Uribe hit a shot from range that Jordan Pickford tipped wide magnificently.
A Colombian corner. England could handle those, surely. Up came Ospina, against the judgment of the bench — particularly when Colombia have players the size of Yerry Mina on hand.
He was the target, and he was the man the corner found.
He outjumped Harry Maguire and headed the ball down.
It reared up and was misjudged by Kieran Trippier on the line, his header only helping it on his way.
Colombia were level, against the odds. Yet for England is felt painfully familiar. — Mailonline.
The post England find life in penalties appeared first on Zimbabwe Today.
