That’s it from me. Hope you enjoyed that epic drama, the like of which has literally never been seen from an England team. Savour this back page from the Wednesday’s Guardian.
Wednesday’s Guardian sport: Yes, we can #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/ojlxH5BYcX
— Helena Lee (@BBCHelenaLee) July 3, 2018
At times like these, you can’t get enough footage of England fans a-jumpin’ and a-hollerin’, right? Good.
Apart, perhaps, from the penalties, here are the best shots taken today:
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Southgate gives his verdict .. and targets more glory
“Fantastic. I think we deserved it, as well. We played so well in the 90 minutes. We’ve shown incredible resilience to come back from huge disappointment at the final whistle. It’s a huge credit to all our players and every member of staff.”
“Shootouts are tough but we talked long and hard about owning the process. We kept calm. Again, great credit to all our staff and all the players who’s taken it on board. WE got our rewards tonight ... We looked at individual technique and how we needed to be as a team.”
“This was special but I want us to go on now. Sweden is another team we have a poor record against. We’ve underestimated them for years. They’re brilliant at what they do.”
Asked about “provocation” by Colombia during today’s match, he says: “We didn’t rise to it, which was brilliant. In general. There were a couple of occasions when we did. But overall it was exceptional.”
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Martha Kelner witnessed all the dram in Moscow and here’s what she made of it:
And you can add your player ratings here:
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Trippier reckons he could have done better for Colombia’s goal. “We played really well in the first half. For their goal, it was a mistake by myself I think. I thought he was going to head it straight down but he headed it into the ground and it went over me and in. I was gutted.” He also echoes Pickford’s confidence about how the shootout would end. “You know there’s always going to be a shootout in tournaments like this and we just practiced on the training field when we were fatigued. The lads all took good penalties. There’s no need to keep changing, just put it in one spot.”
Dier and Pickford speak
Dier is momentarily lost for words when asked to describe his winning penalty but eventually holds forth. “I’ve never really been in a situation like that before but I felt like I had to score after that header I missed at the end so I’m thankful I scored.” Then he praises Pickford, who’s standing beside him. “He was incredible. He’s a fantastic keeper with a fantastic attitude. He deserves it.”
Pickford then describes his experience and comes across as impressively solid: “I did a lot of research on them, for starters, so we had a fair idea. Falcao is the only one who didn’t really go his way. And I’ve got power and agility to help me get around the goal, I don’t carer if I’m not the biggest ... Our mindest and mentality, we never stopped. We knew we had this game even if it went to penalties.”
Here’s a report on that historic match from our man in Moscow
It must be said, all of England’s penalties were well taken - Dier’s was perhaps the worst, funnily enough, even though Henderson missed (Ospina made an excellent save). Recompense, then, for all the work Southgate has put into preparing his team for exactly this denouement.
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Full-time: Colombia 1-1 England (3-4 on pens)
Pickford made one fine save from the spot before Dier clinched victory.
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Dier steers a crisp low shot beyond Ospina and into the bottom corner. England have won a penalty shootout to reachWorld Cup quarter-finals. Colombia 3-4 England on pen
Pickford saves from Bacca! Colombia 3-3 England
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Trippier guides a fine shot into the top corner. Colombia 3-3 England
Uribe hits the crossbar! Colombia 3-2 England
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Henderson’s sidefooted shot is saved low to the left by Ospina. Colombia 3-2 England
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Muriel rolls it low into the far corner as Pickford slumps the other way. Colombia 3-2 England
Rashford deposits the ball perfectly into the bottom corner. Colombia 2-2 England
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Cuadrado rifles it into the net. Colombia 2-1 England
Kane smashes it low into the bottom corner. Colombia 1-1 England
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Falcao fires emphatically down the middle. Colombia 1-0 England
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Southgate gathers the team in a huddle and says some choice words - “don’t do what I did in ‘96!”, perhaps - and everyone claps. Then both teams gather in the centre circle and prepare to make their fate.
Full-time: Colombia 1-1 England. Penalties to follow ...
This didn’t look remotely likely when there were only a few moments left in normal time. And yet, you always knew we were going to end up here, didn’t you?
ET 30 min: Colombia are clinging on...
ET 29 min: Rose sends in a freekick from wide on the left. Ospina makes a Superman dive to punch clear with one hand.
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Et 28 min: Cuadrado booked for a wild tackle on Rose.
ET 26 min: England have found a second wind. Colombia are looking more cautious now. “Bogota just closed down its airport so that all stuff members can watch the end of the game!” claims Martin Somebody.
Colombia substitution: Zapata on, Arias off.
ET 24 min: Trippier goes long for Vardy, who picks it up in the right-hand channel and pings the cross into the near post. Rashford nearly gets on the end of it but it’s poked behind for a corner. And from the corner Dier has a free header eight yards out! And sends it two yards over the bar!
England substitution: Rashford on, Walker off.
ET 23 min: Henderson tips a nice pass through to Rose, sprinting into the left-hand side of the box between two defenders. Rose fires low towards the far corner ... and it whizzes inches wide!
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ET 21 min: Walker is limping badly. He appears to be cramping up. Dier has dropped into central defence. Southgate surely needs to make another change.
ET 20 min: Mina, who, along with Davinson Sanchez, has been outstanding in the heart of Colombia’s defence, snuffs off an attack down the left by Vardy.
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ET 19 min: Pickford sprints out of his box to welly the ball clear as Falcao tried to get on the end of a punt over the top.
ET 18 min: Lingard slips a pass through to Vardy, who shoots on the run from 15 yards. But Barrios makes a brilliant block.
@Paul_Doyle You english have pace, but no guile and have no playmaker. should have brought Shelvey.
— Ralf van der Sluis (@ralfvandersluis) July 3, 2018
ET 16 min: The ball breaks to Vardy on the edge of the Colombia box. He unleashes a crisp shot .. straight at the keeper! And he was offside anyway.
Half-time in extra-time: Colombia 1-1 England
If the second half of extra-times proceeds like the first, then England’s best hope will be to hang on for penalties. Yes, really. But if they can steady themselves and get back on to the front foot, there might be a winner here for them before that.
ET 15 + 1 min: Trippier jumos to the ground and gets a freekick.
ET 15 min: Mojica overhits a cross from the left. England need a break. They’re being overrun in midfield and even down the flanks. Southgate’s changes have not helped. Dier has made no impact and no one can find Vardy.
And here are the reactions to both goals in the fan zones in London.
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ET 14 min: Muriel feeds Mojica. Another fetching cross comes in from the left. Falcao gets to it first but pressure from Maguire is enough to make sure he can’t guide his header on target. But England are on the ropes ...
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England substitution: Rose on, Young off. Young would probably have taken a penalty in a shootout but he was looking knackered and possibly hurt.
ET 13 min: Cuadrado delivers an outswinger. Mina and Sanchez jump for it together - both of them high above English defender - and the header flies over the bar.
ET 12 min: Corner to Colombia. They sense blood.
ET 10 min: England are looking a little ragged and have definitely become more passive. Colombia, without being sharp, are looking more dangerous than they have for most of the match.
ET 8 min: Colombia have the ball in the net ... about 20 seconds after the ref had blown his whistle. Those giddy Colombian are told to pipe down. “Where oh where is Peter Crouch,” sighs Lois Trevvett. “He could have headed that goalaway. And we need to deploy Loftus-Cheek, urgently.”
ET 6 min: Colombia have their danders up. Mojica lashes down the left and fires in a good low cross. Falcao tries to get a toe to it at the near post. Pickford dives on it to make a brave save.
ET 5 min: Stones does well to scramble the ball clear under pressure. “Although England have been the better team, the warning signs were there, with Walker giving the ball away cheaply and Colombia upping the pressure slowly, but surely you have to think that England have to go for it in extra time - Vardy running at a tiring defence is probably their best way to regain the front foot....” reckons Lee Madden.
ET 3 min: Muriel raids down the left. Lingard hares back to make a good recovery tackle.
ET 2 min: Barrios and Young both go down in a heap after a 50/50 challenge on mid-way. Both were showing their studs but Young’s foot was higher - and the ref gives the freekick to England, much to the anger of the Colombian bench.
ET 1 min: Most of England’s players, remember, had nine days off before this. Here’s where their superior fitness should tell, right?
You know who’s loving this? Sweden, that’s who.
“If we go out now, I will never forgive Southgate for bringing on Dier and surrendering the momentum,” seethes Matt Loten. England had been losing the momentum before that, which is why he brought on Dier in the hope of gaining stability. Dier hasn’t managed to deliver that.
Full-time: Colombia 1-1 England. Extra-time to follow ...
England had their toes in the quarter-finals but couldn’t take the last step. They let the game run away from them and were sickened by a wonderful last-gasp Colombian attack. How will they react to that blow now? Colombia look buoyed. What a test this is for Southgate and his callow troops.
90+5 min: Mina spent a good two minutes celebrating and revving up the crowd, who need no extra encouragement. He’s now limping. Has he injured his groin while revelling? And does anyone have any idea how long is left here? The ref could add on another 10 minutes before extra-time with good cause.
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GOAL! Colombia 1-1 England (Mina 90+3)
Mina scores with a towering header from a corner! He leapt above Maguire and headed down into the ground and the bounce took it above Tripper and in off the crossbar! Extra-time ahoy!
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90+3 min: Uribe lets fly with a magnificent shot from over 25 yards. Pickford flings himself across goal and makes a superb finger-tip save.
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90+1 min: Henderson is down and appealing for treatment. No one believes him after his theatrics in the first-half.
90 min: There will be at least five more minutes. That’s far too few in view of all the stoppages, I reckon.
89 min: Kane goes down in midfield and is given a freekick again. That’s the second time in two minutes and neither looked a foul. There’s been a haphazardness about the ref’s decisions/ But he hasn’t been helped by either team, with jabs and playacting agogo.
Colombia substitution: Muriel on, Quintero off.
England substitution: Vardy on, Sterling off. Good decision now that Colombia are pressing forward and England confided to counter-attacks.
86 min: England are dropping deep, just trying to hold on their lead. Falcao wriggles free to create space for a shot from 20 yards. But his low drive is easy pickings for Pickford.
85 min: Cuadrado hoists in a good cross from the right. Sanchez just fails to get a telling touch to it. It’s retrieved on the far side and delivered back into the danger zone. Falcao’s header misses the target as Henderson prevented him from making a clean connection.
84 min: England escape with a clear handball as Colombia try to build an attack outside their area.
83 min: Freekick to England mid-way inside the Colombia half and very central. Trippier clips it into the area. Maguire wins the header and nods high over the bar.
81 min: Walker makes an awful blunder, dawdling on the ball on half-way and allowing Bacca to nick it off him. Suddenly Colombia have a promising counter-attack. Bacca scurries forward and plays in Cuadrado, who blazes over from 18 yards! Terrible finish! And what a reprieve for Walker.
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England substitution: Dier on, Alli off. Alli has been fortunate to last this long.
Colombia substitution: Uribe on, C Sanchez off.
77 min: Sterling leads a counter-attack, racing through the middle. Lingard sprints forward to offer him an option to this right. Sterling feeds him. Lingard goes down in the box under a tackle by Davinson Sanchez! But the ref rightly decides that there was no foul.
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75 min: Cuadrado lofts over a hopefully cross. It’s easily headed clear by Walker. Colombia are putting on some pressure but their lack of a high-calibre final ball is plain. They are missing Rodriguez badly.
74 min: Freekick to England wide on the left. Young delivers an in-swinger. Kane strays offside.
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71 min: A fine, patient move by England concludes with Lingard dashing into the box and trying to pick out Kane in the middle. But Davinson Sanchez makes another excellent intervention. Maguire heads over the bar from the resultant corner.
69 min: Lingard booked for a daft, nasty foul. Colombia, it must be stressed, have offered next to nothing as an attacking force. They’re only real hope of getting into this is by provoking a malfunction in the English team.
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67 min: Young is down outside Colombian box. He’s receiving treatment after being caught by a legitimate challenge. If he’s hurt - and some England players have been happy to fake it - then it can only have been from the fall rather than the contact.
65 min: Bacca booked. I’m not sure what for because it’s hard to keep track of all the fouling and fake falls. There’s a fight a-brewing here ...
63 min: Trippier curls in a fine cross. Alli arrives late and heads over from a difficult angle. Colombia then surround the ref and demand Maguire be punished for diving in the box. They’ve got a strong case because Maguire went down for no good reason. But apparently he saved himself by getting up quickly and telling the ref there was no infringement. Falcao gets booked for protests.
Colombia substitution: Bacca on, Lerma off. As for Kane’s six goals includes three penalties and an inadvertent deflection. Its not exactly a vintage collection of strikes. Not that he cares in the slightest.
59 min: Stones punished for a foul on Falcao. He then drags his foot across the top of the prostrate player’s head. I’m not sure whether there was contact and if it was deliberate but Falcao sure wants the ref to think there was and it was. The ref isn’t interested.
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GOAL! Colombia 0-1 England (Kane pen 57)
Kane slaps the ball down the middle as Ospina dives to his right. He nervelessly scores his sixth goal of the World Cup and edges England close to the quarter-finals.
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56 min: Henderson booked for walking among a throng of Colombians and throwing some shapes.
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55 min: That really was a witless foul, committed right in front of the ref, who is not going to change his mind despite prolonged protests from Colombian players.
Penalty to England!
Carlos Sanchez booked for rugby-tackling Kane as a corner came in.
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53 min: Young flights over another good delivery. Sanchez yet again makes a vital intervention, heading it away before it reached Maguire.
52 min: Arrias booked for jumping into Kane’s back rather than challenge properly for the ball. Freekick to England about 25 yards and to the left. Too far out for a shot, I’m saying, but a fine crossing opportunity.
49 min: It’s stodgy, much like England’s second half against Tunisia and even Panama.
.@Paul_Doyle With this VAR decision and the one with Neymar yesterday, wonder if refs are starting to subconsciously "downgrade" red cards if it's clear the other player made a meal of it? If so, fair play!
— Martin J Gilbert (@Mad_iguana) July 3, 2018
47 min: A scrappy beginning to the second half. Southgate hasn’t found a way to fill the void in England’s central midfield so far. Colombia, meanwhile, are sorely missing Rodriguez.
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46 min: The teams are back out. No Colombian tried to jostle an England player as they entered the field, so far as I could see.
“Never mind a red card, why wasn’t it a penalty, the headbutt was in the box!” storms Bob Souley. Because the ball wasn’t in play when the head-nudge occurred.
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Assorted Swedish readers have sent six different versions of ‘It’s Coming Home’ in their language, showing far more flair and variety than their team.
“Clearly England aren’t getting any justice from the VAR system,” says ex-referee Mark Clattenburg on ITV, arguing that Barrios should have been sent off for “violent conduct” when nutting Henderson. I’m guessing the ref decided otherwise because there was not much force in the gesture, certainly not as much as Henderson made out. Technically it was a red card, but that doesn’t mean justice was not served.
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ITV footage has just showed footage of a member of Colombia’s backroom staff nudging Sterling with his shoulder as the player ran off the pitch. The staffer then walked over to the fourth official and ordered him to keep an eye out for skulduggery. That’s brazen, and more evidence of the needle that has crept into this game.
A propos of nothing, how do you say “It’s Coming Home” in Swedish?
Half-time: Colombia 0-0 England
England started brightly but lost their way a bit as Colombia fought their way back into it. Openings have been sparse and tempers are rising. A bit team-talk required here from both managers. Southgate might consider removing Alli, for starters. Also, there are about 200 messages in my inbox demanding that I stress how shameful/embarrassing/unsuccessful Henderson’s reaction to that head-touch by Barrios was.
45+2 min: Arrias gets a weak header to Sterling’s cross from the right. The ball bounces up invitingly to Lingard, dashing into the box. He leaps high to try to keep his shot down but manages only to slash it over the bar from 15 yards.
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45 min: Arrias forages down the right and then pops the ball back in-field to Quintero, who digs out a reasonable shot from 20 yards, It bounces just in front of Pickford, who hold steadily.
44 min: Kane sends a shot miles wide from 20 yards. Then Mina hurls himself to the ground as if Sterling has struck him. Which, of course, he hasn’t. Rather it was Mina who held Sterling as Kane’s shot wobbled wide. The ref gives both players a telling-off and waves play on.
43 min: That little tete-a-tete with Barrios was perhaps Henderson’s most significant contribution to the game so far. He’s not been as influential as in previous games. Alli, too, has been peripheral.
41 min: The ref decides only to book Barrios. Lucky lad. Trippier eventually takes the freekick and curls it a yard wide of the near post.
40 min: Four English players try to interfere with the seven-man Colombian wall. Tempers rise! Henderson barges Barrios, who responds by gently nutting Henderson in the chest and then carries on up to the chin! Henderson goes down. And the ref is going to consult Var ...
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39 min: Kane wins a freekick at the edge of the Colombian box, just to the left of the D. Tripper and Young fancy it ...
35 min: Colombia pen England back into their own half. Cuadrado and Quintero are nimble probers. But England hold firm. This game really is finely poised. Neither side has been able to find a telling final ball yet but both carry a latest threat
33 min: Quintero races on to a loose ball and tries his luck from 25 yards. He is luckless.
32 min: Cuadrado and Maguire shove each other after the defender shouldered the attacker away from the ball to let it run out of play for an English throw-in. Excellent aggression from both. On a side note, one thing this otherwise highly entertaining World Cup has lacked is a proper good old fashioned melee. But there’s an increasing amount of feistiness in this game ...
31 min: Sterling chases the ball into the right-hand channel and then shows skill and strength to dodge past Sanchez. He dashes in-field and has a shot, which is charged down by another defender. If it’s not one, it’s always another. They’ve defended valiantly so far.
29 min: Solid defending by Colombia. England popped the ball around looking for opening but couldn’t find any.
27 min: Tripper delivers an outswining corner. Mina leaps high to head clear. Mina and Sanchez have deal well with cross so far.
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26 min: Young flights a long diagonal freekick towards Maguire at the backpost. Sanchez does well to head it behind for a corner.
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24 min: More pressure from Colombia. It’s a tidy spell from them. Quintero tries to nip a sneaky pass into the box for Arias but just over-hits it a smidgin.
22 min: Colombia enjoy their best bit of play around the English box so far. Quintero probed a tad before bringing in Cuadrado, who had a bash from 25 yards. It deviated off Maguire towards Falcao, who tried to pounce on the breaking ball and get off a shot from 18 yards. But Stones closed him down quickly.
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20 min: Trippier is a regular danger down the right. Sterling is looking menacing, too. England, in general, are full of pace and elusive movement.
18 min: Colombia put together a few passes. But then, unable to make any inroads, they go for a long ball towards Falcao. Pickford collects it without bother. “I’m watching this in my Rear Window-esque apartment in Paris,” brags Marcus Foley. “It’s the quietest match I’ve heard so far from the other 23 households here. It can only be because the French are terrified of meeting ‘Arry Kin and Trippee-ay in the final.”
16 min: Trippier hurtles down the right to collect a pass from Lingard and delvier a super cross towards the back post. Kane has to arc his back and strain his neck even to get a touch on it ... and he nearly direct it on to the target from a difficult angle. Instead it dropped on to the roof of the net.
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15 min: Strong defending by England. Nine players funnelled back very quickly and shut down an opportunity as soon as it opened up. They remain far sharper than the Colombians.
13 min: Colombia cough up possession under pressure again. The loose ball is supplied to Sterling, who tries a first-time shot from 20 yards. It’s blocked by Sanchez.
12 min: Sterling - so strong on the ball - wins a freekick mid-way inside the Colombia half after Mina tries to piggbyback on him.
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10 min: England are looking stronger and sharper than their opponents so far. Colombia are struggling to put together any meaningful moves. As soon as they make it into England’s half, they’re dispossessed. They just can’t match England’s intensity. At the moment.
9 min: Tripper takes a quick freekick, feeding Sterling, who tries to shoot first time. It’s charged down for another corner. The ref warns defenders against grabbing jerseys. Sanchez heads the corner clear.
7 min: Young spanks over a corner from the left. England players run in zig-zags, seemingly performing one of their rehearsed moves. But when the ball reaches the back post there is no one there, apart from Ospina, who catches it easily.
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6 min: Young goes for goal with a right-footed curler. Ospina punches it clear.
5 min: Freekick to England in a dangerous crossing position on the left after Mina handles the ball following a foxy turn by Sterling. “Being the lone Englishman in my small Colombian town, I can tell you every single Colombian is convinced they’ll win this,” hollers Justin Kirkham. “Even my own kids, the traitorous little brats.” It’s coming home.
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3 min: There’s an encouraging tempo to the early stages and both sides look bright and ambitious but both have been guilty of some hefty touches. Nerves, no doubt.
2 min: Colombia try to ease themselves into the game with careful passing around the back. As soon as they try to move forward England force them into a hasty pass and they give the ball away.
1 min: Three, two, one ... we have kickoff! Colombia do the honours.
God Save the Queen gets enthusiastic backing, too, though not as loudly accompanied as the Colombian number. “I may have the fear,” admits Chris Lingwood. “Is it too soon to have the fear? Or, in fact, far too late?”
Wow! That has got to be the loudest that Colombia’s national anthem has ever been sung. In Moscow, at least. It would have lifted the roof of the stadium if there was one.
The teams stride on to the pitch and are greeted by humungous roars with a definite Colombian accent. English fans are far outnumbered in the stands. There 12th man is wearing yellow.
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“England expects every man... to score a beauty!” roars Simon Flynn.
Southgate speaks
Regarding his team selection England’s manager tells ITV: “I thought the performance [against Tunisia] was really good. The types of runs the midfield players make, in particular, will be a real threat. We want to play in the style we have. We’ve played with a certain identity and we’ve got to keep doing that. Equally we’ve got to play with intelligence … think about counter-attacks and things like that. We have to be savvy and make good decisions ... We’ve talked about our style and managing the game. There might be 20,000+ Colombians in the stadium and we’ve got to ignore that and be tough and together.”
“So England’s first 11 were rested for the last game, the weather ideal and the opponents are without their best player so I only have one question,” reveals James Irving. “Who will wear their home kit: Colombia or Sweden?” A non-believer!
“As a neutral, I’m excited about watching an England game, which isn’t something that’s happened often in the last decade or so,” yahoos Kari Tulnius. “It helps a World Cup immensely when England play with joy. It’s under-appreciated in England how much pride other nations take in having their team play the country that was the sport’s cradle. I bet the Colombian team will be playing their heart out.”
Whaaattttt? Make sure it does come home 😳 https://t.co/Gz9Ll3fTzr
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) July 3, 2018
Our man Jacob Steinberg is covering Wimbledon and has sent this dispatch: “Colombia’s Mariana Duque Marino lost 6-1, 6-1 here just now. To an American, so don’t read too much into it - other than the fact she probably wanted to get in front of a television asap.” You mean in front of a minute-by-minute report, right?
“As a much-lower level ref to Mr Geiger, I am one of the few who actually follows the referees as well as the players and teams,” announces Richard McGahey. “ Geiger is quite steady, his one awful match in the 2015 Gold Cup notwithstanding. Relatively slow on the draw with cards, as most of the refs are at this Cup, presumably under FIFA instructions. Will use other input, especially from ARs, and also VAR, but is quite decisive, won’t be scared to reverse a call if the VAR evidence shows him something he didn’t see. Not a big attitude, like the ‘don’t mess with me’ types like Argentina’s Castrilli or Collina. And English fans will be happy/scared to know that in his MLS reffing, Geiger and other are overseen and advised by Howard Webb.”
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“ I have always idly wondered who gets to keep the pennants exchanged before kick off,” drawls David Watson. “Is it the captains or are they just randomly trashed with all the Lucozade empties at the end of the game?” In most cases they are retained by the country’s FA and later put on display somewhere. I’d pay good money for the item given by El Salvador to Hungary before their match in 1982. I refer to this:
Their 20-year-old goalkeeper Luis Guevara Mora decided to improvise. “When we arrived, we saw that all the other teams had brought gifts for their opponents, shirts, flags and even a book relating the history of football in their country. As for us, we hadn’t brought anything,” he recalled in 2007. “Then I spotted a pine tree and cut a piece of wood from it, into which I carved the words ‘El Salvador’. And that’s what we gave them.”
Word is that Rodriguez is not even fit enough to be considered a viable option of the bench. Colombia’s best player will, therefore, play no part in this match. Everything really is going in England’s favour at the moment...
Many English folks abroad have written in to ask what the atmosphere is like in Blighty at the moment. All I can say is the sun is shining across the land, people have joy in their hearts and pints in their hands, and if you sing the song Grease, replacing the title with England every time, then you’ve pegged the mood as the nation anticipates kickoff. “There ain’t no danger we can go too far / We start believing now that we can be what we are / England is the word.” And so on.
And if that doesn’t get it across, then have a gander at this footage from a local tavern moments ago
So then, what of Colombia? If England are trying to shake off old woes, then so too are Colombia. The country may be the second-most populous in South America but the team is a tiddler in terms of achievement. Their only Copa America triumph on their roll of honour is accompanied by an asterisk – because they won it in 2001, in a tournament they hosted and in which Argentina did not take part – and they have seldom made much impact on the World Cup, not even in 1994 when they travelled with a dazzling squad and managed to finish bottom of a group featuring Switzerland the USA. But the current side brought new hope by breaking new ground in 2014, reaching the quarter-finals under Jose Pekerman, who is confident of leading them at least as far again this time. But Colombia have never beaten England in five attempts. In fact, the only time Colombia has really looked like posing a significant problem for England was when Bobby Moore became embroiled in that bracelet business in Bogota in 1970. They’re not going to beat England now for the first time, are they? Are they?
To test your worthiness as an England fan, how about answering all of the questions in this here quiz:
Teams
James Rodriguez hasn’t made it! That’s a serious blow to Colombia or, from an alternative angle, a wonderful chance for Jefferson Lerma to make himself better known to English viewers: he may be pitching up at Bournemouth soon, as the south-coast club are reportedly keen on signing him from Levante. Meanwhile, Southgate has stayed faithful to the team that started this campaign, fielding the same 11 who started against Tunisia.
Colombia: Ospina; Arias, D Sanchez, Mina, Mojica; Barrios, C Sanchez, Lerma; Quintero, Falcao, Cuadrad
Subs: Zapata, Murillo, Bacca, Vargas, Muriel, Uribe, Diaz, Borja. Izquierdo, Aguilar, JF Cuadrado
England: Pickford; Walker Stones Maguire; Trippier, Lingard, Henderson, Alli, Young; Sterling, Kane,
Subs: Butland, Pope, Rose, Dier, Delph, Cahill, Alexander-Arnold, Rashford, Welbeck, Loftus-Cheek, Vardy
Referee: M Geiger (USA)
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The lineups will be with us any moment now ...
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“It’s a very pleasant 18 degrees in Moscow ahead of the game,” declares Jim Kemp. “Even the weather is giving us a helping hand.” Have the clouds arranged themselves to spell out It’s Coming Home yet?
“I see Mr Geiger is a maths teacher,” notes Oliver Pattenden. “I guess that makes him a Geiger counter.” And as such, he would probably tell you that you are the 25,764th person to crack that joke. I don’t know what made you think the MBM would the place to get such unoriginal humour published. Oh. Right.
“So your referee today is Mark Geiger, the maths teacher?” blurts Tom from Chicago. “Good luck!” One gets the vibe that Tom is not a fan of the American official. Nor is Morocco’s Nordin Amrabat, who complained most angrily about Geiger’s performance during Morocco’s draw with Portugal earlier in this tournament. But even Amrabat was not as annoyed Panamanians were during an infamous Gold Cup semi-final against Mexico in 2015, when, as was subsequently admitted by Concacaf, “officiating errors” occurred during the match reffed by Geiger. Those errors related to a red card and a penalty against Panama and led to the following front page headline in Critica, a popular Panamanian newspaper: “Fucking Arbitro!” But hey, everyone makes mistakes. And today Mr Geiger will have VAR to help him ...
“Hi Paul, have you done an MBM on England before and if so what is their record with you MBMing?” demands-to-know Damian Brown. Shame on you, Damian, hunting for scapegoats already! Still, others are probably well ahead of you and have their ‘Wally in the Waistcoast’ headlines ready to go just in case Colombia ruin English party plans.
Or will they just single out Raheem Sterling again? By the way, it’s been exactly 1,000 days since he scored for England. What a splendid time to find the net today would be.
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“Hi Paul, any update on James Rodriguez’s injury?” asks Jasper Thomas. Absolutely none, Jasper. The suspicion is Colombia will wait until the very last minute to decide whether he has recovered sufficiently from the calf problem that forced him off in the first half of their last match, the win over Senegal. Scans after that game revealed the muscle wasn’t torn, just sore and swollen. If he does start today, he’ll surely not be at 100%. So even if he plays and does well today you’ve got to think, given he didn’t find the net in Colombia’s first three matches, that it’s unlikely he’ll finish that he’ll repeat his 2014 feat and as the World Cup’s top scorer again this year. It’s Harry Kane’s to lose. The Golden Boot’s coming home!*
* The Golden Boot was not invented in England.
Here’s how both sets of fans are feeling with kick-off fast approaching...
England and Colombia fans preview their last-16 meeting in Moscow #WorldCup #Eng #Col pic.twitter.com/DQpeQby6Yc
— Guardian sport (@guardian_sport) July 3, 2018
Preamble
Here we go again. Gareth Southgate has preached quiet optimism; warned against falling into the traps of the past; and pointedly sported a waistcoat in road-melting heat to symbolise the importance of dignified support and always retaining control. But his team have been so darn exciting, and the path to the World Cup final has become so very inviting, that the prospect of glory is suddenly being spoken about out loud and some England fans have lost the run of themselves entirely. It’s coming home!
Or is it? We’ll sure have fun finding out. There are good reasons for believing England can beat anyone left in the tournament, including the Colombia side they face in Moscow today. But there are also sound reasons for suspecting they could be exposed by anyone, including the Colombia side they face in Moscow today. At least we can be sure that Southgate, for one, hasn’t been filling his players’ heads with thoughts of a quarter-final against Sweden, a semi-final against Croatia or Russia and a final against a team masterminded by Roberto Martinez. No. He’ll have been doing his utmost to ensure they concentrate on the task to hand and on their own abilities without being paralysed by the mounting pressure of expectation.
England have shown some precious qualities so far – vibrancy, speed, skill and (from setpieces) inventiveness – but only against Tunisia and Panama. Stuff’s about to get real. Can they keep their heads and groove when the going gets tough? How solid is that defence? Is this really a new England? The answers to those questions, and many more, are going to become clearer very soon. It’s on!
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