England eliminates Colombia on penalty kicks

Harry Kane had given England the lead from the penalty spot and Colombia’s chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals looked slim.

“It’s coming home, isn’t it?”

England had looked set to be going through with few dramas when tournament leading scorer Harry Kane smashed in a 57th-minute penalty, his sixth goal at the finals, only for Yerry Mina to head an equalizer in the third minute of stoppage time.

England trailed, 3-2, in the penalty shootout after Jordan Henderson’s shot was saved, but Mateus Uribe hit the bar and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford then saved Carlos Bacca’s kick.

‘The English players, the Colombian players, they gave everything for 120 minutes… the players they should be exhausted, especially by the emotional point of view’. Eric dier scored the winning penalty despite a Jordan Henderson penalty miss thanks to Jordan Pickford’s brilliant save.

It was mixed emotions, highs and lows, even in the penalty shootouts.

I’ll still be pacing the room and peeping through my fingers if the Sweden game goes down to the wire.

That feeling was no better shown by Colombia legend Faustian Asprilla who tweeted during the second-half: “Very hard to win when the referee is playing for the Queen of England”. It’s a big night for England.

“We’d studied all their takers, and great credit should go to the collective of staff, and to Jordan, for taking on board that information and preparing in the right way”.

Measure Kane’s five goals against Rodriguez’s uneven, injury-interrupted play, and it’s easy to see why England has been a darling of the World Cup and Colombia has yet to impose its will upon the tournament. On the BBC, they have emerged victorious in nine out of 13 matches.

“Now is not the time to talk about my future, but the World Cup has helped me reconnect and reaffirm myself as a footballer”. We want to capitalise on it now.

With the exception of national team legend Zlatan Ibrahimovic, no one’s talking about Sweden as a favourite to win the title.

“I thought Raheem Sterling had a really good first half, as bright as anyone on the pitch, making things happen, turning and really trying to get beyond people and get the ball into the danger area”.

“They have good plans, they have a clear way of playing – and it’s bloody hard to play against”.

“You have to try and stand in the shoes of the players”.