England beat Colombia on penalties to progress to the World Cup quarter-final, probably a fair result after a strangely ill-tempered clash that, at times, threatened to spiral out of control as passion turned to anger and referee Mark Geiger struggled to contain the fire.
But in the end it was the Colombians burnt by the cruellest elimination in knockout football, not only a shootout defeat but one that came after they had been a penalty ahead when David Ospina saved Jordan Henderson’s effort from 12 yards.
Despite taking England to edge on penalties, this game looked set for a straightforward outcome as Gareth Southgate’s men set about controlling the tempo of the game for the majority of the 90 minutes – despite the bickering and sparks that characterised the second half.
Harry Kane’s penalty had England sailing through only for a last-gasp header by Yerry Mina, a goal in the third minute of stoppage time, to leave the Three Lions stunned.
Extra-time provided nothing but extra nerves to this encounter and when Ospina held out Jordan Henderson’s effort, those engrained English nightmares looked like reality once more.
But Matias Uribe hit the crossbar and then Jordan Pickford made a remarkable save to allow Eric Dier to fire England through from 12 yards – and he duly obliged.
