Right, that’s all from me today, not to mention the fine work of Mike and Ben earlier.
Enjoy your evenings, free from the shackles of the World Cup.
Although, if you do like football, here is some reading:
Stuart James of a “cancer in the game”
The rise of Jordan Pickford, by Louise Taylor
David Hytner takes a look at Sweden
Nick Ames has the power (rankings)
In cheery Fifa news, Press Association report:
A football official who voted for the winning North American bid for the 2026 World Cup three weeks ago has been banned for two years by Fifa on corruption charges.
Saint Vincent and Grenadines Football Federation president Venold Coombs has been found guilty of reselling 2014 World Cup tickets for what Fifa described as a “profiteering mark-up”.
The investigation began in June 2016 and Coombs was notified of the sanction, which comes into effect immediately, on Tuesday.
It is unclear where he was when he learned about the ethics committee’s verdict but Fifa has confirmed to Press Association Sport that Coombs was in Moscow for the pre-Russia 2018 congress in his capacity as a member association boss.
This means Fifa paid for Coombs’ travel to the Russian capital, in business class, his accommodation in a five-star hotel and a ticket to the opening game, as well as expenses.
And plenty more on Jordan Pickford’s origins in the game from our very own Louise Taylor. . .
The World Cup tax!
With no football tonight, everyone will be able to reintegrate into society, whatever than entails.
Alternatively, you can sit at home and play Three Lions on a loop.
Baz is making friends. . .
😂😂😂 I am getting pelters below the line on Guardian Football podcast for being "anti-English".
— Barry Glendenning (@bglendenning) July 4, 2018
To be absolutely, abundently clear: I am not anti-English. Nothing could be further from the truth. Have lived here for nearly 20 years and love the place.
But ... ☘☘☘
Someone has tracked down former Darlington manager Craig Liddle to find out how good Jordan Pickford was a teenager when he made his Quakers debut age 17.
Liddle told Press Association Sport
We gave him the platform and the opportunity but he was always destined to get to where he is now.
The thing with all young players is when you have an opportunity you have to take it.
He took it with both hands and went back to Sunderland, kicked on again and each loan spells tested him that bit more.
It was evident he had talent and you always hope he’ll fulfil his potential and he has certainly done that.
Darlington can’t take much credit for where he is now but we handed him the opportunity and he passed it with flying colours.
Christopher has offered his views on the matter of the American referee. . .
@Will_Unwin It does seem odd to appoint a US ref to an Eng game, but also odd to appoint a Colombian ref to Eng v Tun when if Tunisia had drawn there was a good chance Colombia would get them in the second round? Either way, with the headbutt it's not as though all went Eng way.
— Christopher Heward (@Chris_Heward) July 4, 2018
Being knocked out of the World Cup has its positives, as Gerard Pique can testify. . .
Should England be afraid? David Hytner has the answer!
I have convinced Mrs Live Blogger that cancelling out dinner plans out on Friday is a great idea due to Brazil v Belgium. The fact I won’t be home in time for kick-off is irrelevant.
Surely it has to be the game of the round.
Re Chester v Liverpool (16.18), Mike has dropped some wisdom into my inbox about life.
He pens: “I think it makes sense for Chester (and Liverpool) fans to attend their match on Saturday. They can avoid the trauma of watching Sweden beat England.”
Mike, it is coming home and there is nothing you can do about it!
Sven has been on. . .
Speaking to Sky Sports, the former England manager warned that Sweden should not be taken lightly
To score against Sweden is extremely difficult,.
They have shown it so many times now. If England think they will have an easy match on Saturday that is a big mistake. I think it will be very difficult.
England have the players individually to do something special. (Harry) Kane is one of them, (Raheem) Sterling is another, but when I tell you it is difficult to beat Sweden it is the truth.
In the World Cup play-off, Italy couldn’t score in 180 minutes, Germany only scored (their winner) with a free-kick at the end.
Neymar is trying to learn from his own son how to behave like a grown man on the pitch.
One man not at the World Cup. . .
Happy 4th of July to all @dcunited fans and everybody celebrating! Enjoying a day at the baseball, come on @Nationals! ⚾️🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/h3JJcWf06k
— Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) July 4, 2018
Vladimir Petkovic role as Switzerland coach is not under threat, his football federation have said.
The Bosnian still has two years to run on his current deal and SFV president Peter Gillieron said that this was not up for review despite their last-16 exit at the hands of Sweden.
”I can guarantee that is not an issue,” he told reporters at the team’s training camp in Togliatti. “Vladimir Petkovic has achieved many good things during his time with us.”
“I am disappointed like everyone else but we mustn’t just look on the negative side,” he added. “There were times in the past when we didn’t even qualify for major tournaments.
“We have a team that is among the best in Europe, I know everyone is disappointed but we have to look at the positives.”
Stuart James discusses a “cancer in the game”. . .
Sweden v England isn’t the only game on Saturday. . .
Liverpool’s friendly at Chester is “highly unlikely” to be changed to avoid a clash with England’s World Cup quarter-final against Sweden, the non-league club’s chairman has said.
The Three Lions are preparing for a last-eight meeting with the Swedes that is set to kick off at 1500BST on Saturday - as is the friendly at the Swansway Chester Stadium.
Chester chairman David Harrington-Wright was quoted by the Chester Chronicle as saying: “When the fixture was first discussed there was a possible clash with an England quarter-final in the World Cup.
“We requested a kick-off change then but that was the only time Liverpool could do.
“Premier League players are like racehorses and pre-season training is something that is planned to the very last detail, so a change in times would disrupt their plans.
“It has been mentioned since then but it is highly unlikely to be moved. At this late stage the logistics of it would be difficult too.
“We know it provides a dilemma to fans and we fully expect the crowd to be less on Saturday.
“But it is important to remember that Liverpool have been very good to us with this friendly. A strong team is coming and we will keep all the gate receipts from the clash.
“We have sold the tickets and received the money, so there is no loss to the football club from a business point of view really.”
Sir Bobby has been on...
Congratulations to @GarethSouthgate and the @England team for last night's victory, and especially for winning the penalty shootout. Best of luck for Saturday.
— Sir Bobby Charlton (@SirBobby) July 4, 2018
The voice of reason, Diego Maradona, has spoken about England’s win over Colombia, as the UK and USA unite to knockout the South Americans.
“Today I saw a monumental robbery on the pitch, a fatal mistake for a whole country,” Maradona told Venezuela-based channel Telesur.
“Here’s a gentleman who decides, a referee who, if you Google him, shouldn’t be given a match of this magnitude.
“Geiger, an American, what a coincidence.”
Hakan Mild, a former Sweden international, is not particularly worried about facing England in the quarter finals.
It couldn’t be a better draw, they think they are so good, they are not.
They are spoilt children who earn a lot of money. They don’t have the desperation needed.
England have been desperate for years, mate.
He blathers on some more for effect, though.
You are not terrified when you see this team. It suits Sweden well.
If we get through the first 20 minutes we can go through. They are limited.
I’m really impressed (with Sweden), how they have come up with this and how the team works together. They do it together and the players submit to the idea.
IT’S COMING HOME!!!
PA report: Comedy duo David Baddiel and Frank Skinner’s 1990s football song Three Lions has topped the iTunes chart following England’s victory over Colombia in the World Cup.
The original version of the pair’s collaboration with band The Lightning Seeds from 1996 is ahead of Shotgun by singer-songwriter George Ezra and electronic group Clean Bandit’s hit Solo.
The tune’s 1998 reworking, which coincided with that year’s World Cup in France, has also entered the top 10.
The charts are based on online sales on the store of Apple’s media player and library.
Baddiel, 54, reacted to the news by retweeting a screenshot of the chart, and writing: “Blimey. Again.”
Updated
It’s all kicking off at Wimbledon ahead of Sweden v England. . .
When your coach is a Swede and you tell him it's coming home... let’s go @England! 🦁🦁🦁 #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/b319rJqSM7
— Kyle Edmund (@kyle8edmund) July 4, 2018
Steve points out that it is certainly coming home. . .
He says: “While England obviously have weaknesses, you only have to look as far as France in 1998, or Italy in 2006, for just two examples of teams who got out of an easy group and didn’t look like world-beaters as the knockout rounds began, but grew into the tournament and ended up winning. Whichever team ends up in the final from the opposite side of the bracket will be very tough, but England have as good a chance of making the final as anyone else on their side. COME ON ENGLAND!”
Some absolutely classic Knowledge right here. . .
My commitment to this blog knows no bounds as I have turned down Canadian radio in order to carry on with this blog until the bitter end. Nor do I know why they specifically wanted me as I am the lowest of the low at the Guardian, but it’s nice to be wanted.
Kevin De Bruyne does not look too excited to be heading into a World Cup quarter final against Brazil. . .
Chin up, Kev
Now we’re talking, Radamel!
Where to start, Stu?
So what's the verdict on Mark Geiger's performance last night in #ENG #COL match? I think he handled a difficult match well and was spot on with the penalty decision. Players on both sides did him no favors.
— Stu Holden (@stuholden) July 4, 2018
I am going to suggest it is just the way the cookie crumbles. . .
@Will_Unwin Hello. As England Colombia and Sweden Switzerland were the last 2 R16 games played, do you know why the QF is being played before Russia Croatia?
— John S (@joe_username) July 4, 2018
Are there any changes to be made for Southgate ahead of the clash with Sweden? I wouldn’t be adverse to Alli being swapped out for Loftus-Cheek but I suspect I am in the minority, but I just do not feel the Spurs fits the role as well as his team-mate.
Matthew comes up with a natural choice for an evening ‘It’s Coming Home’ takeaway.
@Will_Unwin Vindaloo. Enough said.
— Matthew Loten (@intheinaka) July 4, 2018
As Max Rushden & co were asking on the podcast yesterday. Would you miss the birth of a child for a World Cup knockout match?
Fabian Delph is on his way back to Russia after he was present for the birth of his third daughter. . .
Congrats Fab! 💙
— Manchester City (@ManCity) July 4, 2018
Now go get ‘em in the Quarter Finals! #worldcup #mancity pic.twitter.com/Upcz5IlYxD
Blaise Matuidi knows that it will be a big blow to Uruguay if Edinson Cavani is unable to face France in the quarter final. The midfielder knows the striker well from their time together at PSG, before Matuidi left for Juventus.
I worked with Edinson for a very long time. We have not spoken recently, but I know him well enough to tell you that he is a very generous man, who does not give up on anything, and I know that he will do everything, right up until the last moment to be on the pitc,” Matuidi told a news conference on Wednesday.
I do not know if they are bluffing (about the injury). That*s for the Uruguayans to worry about. But there are injuries that can be quickly healed and others for which there is no miracle cure.
My World Cup workload and significant other going away for three days means there is almost nothing to eat at home, so tonight is takeaway night. What should we order in upon Mrs Livebloggers triumphant return? That’s the question gnawing at me and my WhatsApp alerts.
As it is coming home, maybe it should be fish and chips.
Shall we look forward to playing Sweden, then? I watched both legs of their World Cup play-off and enjoyed how incredibly organised they were and willing to throw their bodies on the line for the cause. They successfully did that over two games against Italy and kept it up throughout the World Cup. They are better organised than Colombia and a little less willing to just repeatedly kick you for their own amusement. Could be a tense one.
There is a slight chance of fun but whether that will be backed up with frolics is a complete unknown currently. But what a time we will have finding out.
Like numbers? Like the idea of football coming home? Well, according to Twitter, there have been 500,000 tweets in the past 24 hours alone, claiming that it is indeed coming home. If that’s not sufficient evidence, what is? Now, am going to hand the baton over to Will Unwin for more World Cup fever and frolics:
Even Putin knows... 👀 #ENG #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/cGQBVLrz2o
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOE_UK) July 4, 2018
Updated
Eight supporters have weighed in with their view:
Gareth Southgate is back on the grass taking training in Repino this afternoon, and he is by no means underestimating the threat of their quarter-final opponents. “I’d have liked a week to enjoy this one but haven’t got that because Sweden are a team I respect hugely,” he said. “We’ve not got a good record against them, I think we’ve always underestimated them. They have good plans, they have a clear way of playing – and it’s bloody difficult to play against. They are greater than the sum of their parts more often than not, so that is a hugely difficult game for us.”
England will take on Sweden in Samara on Saturday afternoon (3pm, BST), with belief they can end 52 years of hurt seemingly stronger than ever. The Samara Arena, situated at the confluence of the Samara and Volga rivers, was completed in April 2018, with the quarter-final its final match of the tournament in Russia.
World Cup fever sweeps over Wimbledon, with the British No 1 and his coach, Fredrik Rosengren, ready to do battle:
When your coach is a Swede and you tell him it's coming home... let’s go @England! 🦁🦁🦁 #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/b319rJqSM7
— Kyle Edmund (@kyle8edmund) July 4, 2018
Updated
Sour grapes from José Pekerman, Colombia’s coach, after a game high on drama, and ludicrously high on fouls – 36 in total (23 against Colombia). “We shouldn’t only look at Colombian players, people should look at England players,” he said. “I wish I was wrong, but I think from the next match England will be much more careful. Today we were on the receiving end of this but I hope it won’t happen again. It’s been absolutely obvious, too obvious.”
Updated
Is football coming home? “We have to wait and see,” Harry Kane, the England captain, said last night. “It’s great that everyone believes – I want the fans to believe – but we just have to stay focussed game-by-game, and Sweden have been great in this tournament – they’re a great defensive side. We spoke a lot about togetherness before the tournament and before the games and we dug deep. We are as together as we can be.”
Updated
Before Sweden v England, the first quarter-final gets under way on Friday, when Uruguay take on France in Nizhny Novgorod. And Uruguay’s teenage midfielder, Diego Laxalt, has been stating the bleeding obvious. “We’ll have to do a perfect job defensively as their forwards are very good,” the Genoa midfielder said. “Obviously, we should give Mbappé the least space possible, so he cannot make the most of this speed. But I think that defending en masse, as we have been doing until now, will make it tough for them.”
Updated
More on those staggering numbers from earlier:
May have to shoehorn in Harry Kane at this rate:
Some news a world away from cloud nine: Aston Villa have booted out director of football Steve Round, but Steve Bruce is set to stick around. And, with the National League fixtures out today, Salford City will host Leyton Orient in their curtain-raiser. They were six divisions between them in 2014-15. Salford, part-owned by Phil Neville (10%), Gary Neville (10%), Nicky Butt (10%), Paul Scholes (10%), Ryan Giggs (10%), also named ex-Manchester City goalkeeper Carlo Nash as their new goalkeeping coach this week. Back to it ...
Essential
half-time
lunchtime reading:
Ben is now back and raring to go thanks to his lunch of kebab and pomegranate juice. He will bring you some top notch stuff for the afternoon session.
It’s all smiles at England training today, and why wouldn’t it be?
Gareth Southgate is also a very happy man. . .
Lothar Matthäus wants Neymar to stop rolling around the floor!
“Neymar does not need it. He is an excellent player, one of the five best players in the world,” Matthäus proffered. “Why does he need the acting?
“It does not bring him sympathy. (1986 World Cup winner) Diego Maradona was not acting, (Argentina captain) Lionel Messi is not acting. We need players like Neymar but not the acting.”
They’ve grown into their shirts. . .
Four years ago these two students signed for @HullCity…
— Curtis Davies #33 (@TheCurtisDavies) July 4, 2018
Four years on they’ve got better gear and haircuts but also one has played in a champions league final and the other has just reached the World Cup Quarter-finals. Two true inspirations to any young players in the game👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/E5Ml9RZfnQ
Matt responds to David (12.38). . .
He says: “Uruguay having a 16/1 chance of winning the World Cup means that the bookies estimate that they have a 33% chance of beating France, about the same chance of beating Brazil/Belgium and a slightly better than half chance of beating whoever they meet in the final (33%*33%*53% = 5.9% = 16/1). Which looks about fair to me. David’s reasoning in his email is why bookies make money and most punters don’t.”
Mine’s a pint of Political PR. . .
France defender and Pamela Anderson enthusiast Adil Rami is not concerned by the fact he is yet to play a minute in the World Cup, as he has a more specific role within the squad which has nothing to do with actually going onto the pitch.
My role is to try to bring positive waves to the team. I also bring my qualities, my character, my mental strength.
I try to make youngsters in the squad understand that talent is not enough and that we will need to be ready to suffer and to fight.
Adil Rami there - vibing.
Updated
England’s very own man mountain, Harry Maguire, says the team are fearless, like the lions on their chest.
“We have shown against Colombia that we are hungry, we are fearless. The boys showed great character,” the defender told the London Evening Standard.
“There have been a lot of questions about us about how we are a young team and that we don’t have much experience.”
David has come in search of fashion advice, I mean, to tell us his disbelief at bookies.
He writes: “I’ll tell you what almost caused me to splutter tea all over my cream chinos this morning; Uruguay being given odds of 16/1! I’m the last person who wants to see that cheeky fool lift the cup but him and Cavani look brutal up in front of a very solid looking team. Definitely within the realms of possibility that they’ll dispatch France and Brazil.”
As mentioned a little earlier, England are back in Repino and those who did not feature in the game yesterday are out on the training pitch. . .in the rain.
As Ben heads off in search of a kebab, I am here to take you through lunch. I watched the game last night at ITN’s HQ, where many a nervous journalist got upsetting a re-scripting the news late on but surely it was all worth it.
Not one to go quietly, Falcao has had his stinging two-pennies’ worth on last night’s man in the middle, Mark Geiger. The American referee has had a lively tournament – he was accused by Nordin Amrabat of asking for Cristiano Ronaldo’s shirt during Portugal’s win against Morocco – and now the Colombia striker has suggested an air of bias towards England in Moscow:
I found it peculiar that they put an American referee in this instance. To tell you the truth, the process leaves a lot of doubts. He only spoke English, some bias was certain. The referee disturbed us a lot, in the 50-50 plays, he always made the calls in favour of England. This situation was undermining us. He didn’t act with the same criteria for both teams. When in doubt he always went to the England side. It’s shameful that this happens in the round of 16 of a World Cup
A quick glance at Sweden, England’s opponents in Samara on Saturday. So far, so good, for a nation competing without Zlatan Ibrahimovic at a major tournament since 2000, with the focus these days on the collective. They have few stars but plenty of structure, with Emil Forsberg arguably their key man, though Ludwig Augustinsson and Andreas Granqvist have been brilliant defensively. Augustinsson could yet prove one of the breakout players of the tournament, with the 24-year-old Werder Bremen defender reportedly wanted by Fulham.
England arrived back at their Repino base, the ForRestMix hotel on the Gulf of Finland, around 5am this morning, with those who played last night working in the gym, while the rest of the 23-man group are about to head off to training.
Updated
Transfer nugget: Real Madrid deny Kylian Mbappé deal. Given the intense speculation in France, linking the man-of-the-moment with a €272m move, the La Liga club have come marching out to deny such a thing. The statement reads: “Real Madrid has not made any offers to PSG or the player.” Only 48 hours ago, Real did the same regarding talk of Neymar joining the club. Never dull.
Updated
England news: Gareth Southgate alluded to a few knocks in his squad after, describing the dressing room akin to “a scene from M*A*S*H”. Jamie Vardy felt an issue in his groin – ruling him out of any red-hot penalty action – while Dele Alli again came unstuck with that pesky thigh problem and Harry Kane was seen holding his back. “Some just cramp, and some need just a little bit more assessment, so we’ll know more over the next 36 hours,” Southgate said.
Updated
An interesting footnote, via email, although not entirely true of every game in Russia this summer. “If there’s a theme to this World Cup, it seems to be late heroics ultimately not amounting to much,” says Adithya, before flagging up Toni Kroos’ winner against Sweden, Marcos Rojo’s late goal v Nigeria, Schmeichel’s penalty save in extra-time against Croatia and Yerry Mina’s goal last night. Meanwhile, below the line, SFDPSFDP states “England has one foot in the final, they are clearly the better team left in that side of the WC tree”.
World Cup fever may be swamping England, but one fierce man in his 50s is already looking forward to the future and Qatar 2022 (I know, crazy). And Joachim Löw, the Germany head coach, only signed a meaty contract extension in May:
Updated
A
game
picture of two halves:
Updated
Away from England, to ... the player of the tournament so far?
Mbappé chose the day that Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo left the World Cup to start his revolution. Without asking permission, without the need to knock discreetly at the door, he burst into footballing history, flattening everything before him. From the first minute, he appeared to be made of wind and steel, taking flight and destroying the Argentinian defence
The bookies’ favourites for the World Cup? Brazil, widely, around 3-1, followed by France and then ... just look who it is, England, ahead of Belgium and Croatia. And, by the time Gareth Southgate’s side play Sweden on Saturday, two of France, Uruguay, Brazil or Belgium will have been sent packing. Amazing, eh?
Updated
Amid the euphoria, there is some jarring concern over England’s inability to slice open defences for fun. “I agree with Ben Lake (10.19), England have not created much from open play,” emails Lee Taylor. “This might get us through against Sweden, but I don’t think we will prosper if we play Croatia.” He “seems to have forgotten our other open play goal – Kane’s glorious deflection,” says Matthew on Twitter. Are we worried? Does it matter? Do join the debate.
Updated
From this:
... to this:
There’s a national lesson there that goes beyond football, one all about possibility and shaking off the curse of fatalism. We should take it to heart and savour this moment. For who knows what lies in store when Saturday comes
Coming home? Well, the former England midfielder Scott Parker has returned to former club Fulham as first-team coach, where he will work alongside head coach Slavisa Jokanovic. He joined Tottenham Hotspur’s Academy last summer to coach their Under-18s. “I’m looking forward to getting started right away in preparation for the Premier League campaign,” Parker says.
Jordan Pickford, the Everton No 1, became the first England goalkeeper since David Seaman, against Argentina in Saint-Etienne in 1998, to save a spot-kick in a shootout at a major tournament as the national team forced their way into the last eight:
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. You don’t always get what you deserve in life but I think we did against Colombia.
Even when [Jordan Henderson’s] penalty was saved, I’ve seen enough shootouts to know the first miss isn’t the key one. I believed our goalkeeper would save one, and the technique of our players in taking them was superb throughout. There, too, I have to credit a big support team who have done a lot of work in that area over the last few months.
Updated
Cutting from the Swedish newspaper, Sportbladet:
Ah. From Moscow, courtesy of correspondent Shaun Walker:
Last night passed off without any major fan trouble, but there was one minor incident. Russian fans and media were enraged after it emerged that an England fan had apparently defaced a statue honouring Spartak legend Fedor Cherenkov outside the stadium.
Cherenkov was a midfielder who played for Spartak Moscow for more than a decade. Photographs showed “ENGLAND” scrawled onto the statue in what appeared to be orange marker. The graffiti was swiftly scrubbed off, but not before angry Russian fans had called on the fan to be found and deported.
Stadium security and police detained the fan responsible, named by Russian news outlets as Rufus Hall, though there was no official confirmation of this. The Russian newspaper Sport Express posted a contrite video apology from an English fan, apparently Hall, on Twitter: “I feel sorry, I feel embarrassed, I love this country for the two days I’ve been here. Your people have been welcoming, I’ve had a lovely time. I would never disrespect the country, I respect the history. Had I known this would offend people I would never have done it and I wholly apologise”.
It is unclear whether Hall was fined, or whether police plan any further action over the incident.
Updated
If you aren’t allowed to get carried away now, when can you? “I’ve been thinking about how to mark England’s now-inevitable World Cup triumph,” tweets an excitable David Nicholas. “Gareth Southgate grew up in Crawley, near Gatwick Airport, which I’ve always thought was an ugly name. How about Southgate International? ‘Southgate’ even sounds like an airport terminal.”
And, a dose of reality, to bring us thudding back to earth, courtesy of Ben Lake. “I can’t get over the nagging doubt that we seem incapable of creating anything out of open,” he says. “We have scored one goal that is not a set-piece or penalty and that was very much a worldie, not something to be relied upon. Especially not following Lingard’s slightly out of sorts performance last night.”
Updated
They were decent England penalties last night, weren’t they? Harry Kane set the tone to match Falcao’s effort, and kudos to Marcus Rashford to ripple the net as he did. Kieran Trippier did not bow to the pressure and, ironically, Eric Dier’s, the one that clinched it was arguably the worst of the lot – not that it matters.
Gareth Southgate, a man of the people. Brilliant picture:
England news: Jamie Vardy made the desired impact in Moscow; he looked razor-sharp after coming on for Raheem Sterling two minutes from time, carving out a half-chance and his explosive pace a problem for Colombia. But, the reason the likes of Kieran Trippier and Eric Dier took penalties before him, has since become clearer, with the striker appearing to pick up a groin injury a few minutes into extra-time. A couple of reports suggest Vardy is already a doubt for the Sweden match in Samara on Saturday.
Away from reality, there is a world of rumour:
A mere 23.6 million of us watched England’s penalties on ITV last night – and that’s just those at home. That’s almost 70% of the audience share, with the remainder fixated by, among other things, Death in Paradise on BBC One and Bride and Prejudice on Channel 4 (there’s a joke there, somewhere). As for the players at the heart of the action, “how about a nod to the quietly brilliant Ashley Young” tweets Daniel Martin. “He must have covered as many yards running to drag England players away from confrontation and the ref as he did bombing down the line. A cool head when Colombia were trying to raise the temperature.”
Updated
Be honest, how many times have you played Vindaloo or Three Lions this morning? World in Motion on loop? Also, anyone else find themselves humming along to Atomic Kitten’s 2001 hit Whole Again every now and then? “Southgate you’re the one, you still turn me on ... ” It’s amazing what a football match can do.
Updated
Things are looking pretty good for Harry Kane, on all levels:
Updated
He says his penalty miss at Euro 96 will always live him, but, at this rate, so will this group of players, with Gareth Southgate praising his young squad for not reverting to type nor conforming to the struggle synonymous with England teams of yesteryear:
Updated
Colombia’s best player was sat in the stands last night, and in tears at full-time, but man-mountain Yerry Mina looked ruddy good in defence; no wonder Barcelona, where the 23-year-old – believe it or not – is still finding his feet, have set his buy-out clause at €100m. A 6ft 5in colossus, Mina dominated, even while struggling with a groin injury late on. He surely has a huge future.
Updated
How about a winner stays on, a poker night or a round robin competition of sorts to determine the best (and most ludicrous) England celebrations last night? I raise you Ross Kemp:
What a game, what an ending. Well done @England #ENGvCOL #EnglandvsColombia #threelions pic.twitter.com/l5qTfmfN2O
— Ross Kemp (@RossKemp) July 3, 2018
Updated
Standout players last night? Away from the obvious candidates – Jordan Pickford and Harry Kane – thought Harry Maguire was brilliant again, and John Stones too. Maguire pleading for Mark Geiger, the referee, to consult VAR when Jordan Henderson was ambushed by Wilmar Barrios was pretty convincing too, incessantly moving his index fingers in the shape of a TV monitor. As for Kane, he really has relished his role in this England team, leading from the front. Also, no one’s talking about those momentum-losing wholesale changes for the Belgium game anymore, are they? In fact, Sai, perhaps a little prematurely, emails: “Belgium lost the World Cup by beating England in the group stage.”
Where do England go from here? Samara, to play Sweden on Saturday would be the cynics answer but there is no doubting the magnitude of that result last night. A defeat would have seen England crash out, with only a last-minute win over Tunisia and a cakewalk against Panama to their name. But a victory like that – well, well, well – leaves them three games and perhaps as few as 270 minutes from winning the bloody thing. “I reckon about a 70% chance of beating Sweden, coin-toss against Croatia or Russia and a 30% chance against whoever wins the other half of the draw,” emails David Penney, giving England approximately a “10% chance of winning the cup. Sound about right?”
Updated
How about that, then? A night when a country emphatically leapt out of the knockout stage doldrums, an evening in Moscow whereby a curse was broken, and, simply, a penalty shootout was won. Won. By England. In the end, despite Yerry Mina’s almighty best efforts to dampen the feel-good train, Gareth Southgate’s side did it in perhaps the best manner possible, crushing all those old demons, those previous tepid and cruel exits. Going forward, that set of penalties will surely stand them in good stead, even with all of the favourable-side-of-the-draw talk. It is a night that will live long in the memory.
And with that I’ll leave you in the Pickford-like safe hands of Ben Fisher, who’ll steer you through the reaction as a nation awakes and realises it wasn’t all just a glorious dream. England won a World Cup penalty shootout, it’s true, and are now just three wins from being crowned world champions. Oh just stop it. Goodbye.
We have a solution to the problem of players surrounding referees! Or rather Jonathan Holland does. “In an audio version of VAR,” he writes, “players should only be allowed to email or tweet their opinions to the referee. A panel would then consider the merits of each opinion. It has its flaws I admit, but it could work.” Flaws? None. And it’s not difficult to imagine certain players getting on board straight away.
Updated
Before I hand over the reins to euphoria hangover central in London, good on Martin Gamage for this: “Having emailed in after the Belgium game to berate Pickford for his performance, I guess I should have my humble pie,” he writes. “Thought he was much better last night: solid handling, decent distribution, a good save and, of course, the shootout. At least I didn’t suggest he was too short. Let’s hope he maintains his form; I can see the Sweden game going to penalties too.”
Meanwhile, Quentin Seik writes: “Jordan Pickford is 6ft 1” (185cm) all this talk about him being a little guy is madness surely?! For context that is the same height as Iker Casillas & Sepp Maier, and only 4cm shorter than Lev Yashin. They were all pretty good.”
What of the vanquished Swiss? Their coach, Vladimir Petkovic, had been keen to raise the profile of his team this tournament but they fell at the last-16 stage without much fanfare.
“Maybe we reached our limits,” Valon Behrami said. “I have the feeling that we are not ready for the really important games, or not good enough.”
“The final cross and the final pass were missing,” the former Arsenal defender Johan Djourou said. “Sweden were not the better team, but we didn’t have the little bit extra in attack, and when you don’t have that extra, it becomes difficult.”
A nice little story from Reuters here:
Sweden fan Ragit Shaqiri found it difficult to celebrate his side’s progression to a first World Cup quarter-final since 1994 with a victory over Switzerland on Tuesday, as his cousin Xherden Shaqiri played for the losing team. The Swedes won 1-0 thanks to winger Emil Forsberg’s deflected strike, causing mixed emotions for the 18-year-old who grew up on the same Rosengard estate as retired Sweden legend Zlatan Ibahimovic.
“I watched the game in Kosovo with all my relatives, it was very exciting but at the same time very stressful,” Ragit told Reuters as Sweden set up a last-eight clash against England on Saturday. “I was happy and sad at the same time when Forsberg scored, I thought Xherdan played very well, his crosses towards goal were very dangerous,” he added.
Xherdan’s father and Ragit’s mother are siblings, and left the poverty and conflict in Kosovo for Switzerland, with the latter then opting to settle in the Swedish city of Malmo. A promising amateur footballer, Ragit’s agent is Xherdan’s brother Erdin and he now hopes Sweden can go on to even greater things. “In the World Cup nothing is guaranteed, but I hope Sweden go on to win it,” he said.
We heard from Sweden coach Janne Andersson, but how are his players feeling about the prospect of facing England for a place in the semis? Needless to say, they’re confident. Why wouldn’t they be?
“Bring them on,” said striker Marcus Berg. “Most of them have respect for us and we feel secure regardless of who we meet.”
Last night’s goalscorer Emil Forsberg said: “We have had nightmare opponents wherever we went, and no matter who we get they’ll have to work hard to win. We believe in what we’re doing and believe we can do something great, and that we can achieve something fantastic.”
And midfielder Gustav Svensson said: “I don’t think their players want to meet us. We have shown time and again that we are a team that no-one wants to meet, a team that allows very few goal chances. If you ask their players, I don’t think any of them will want to meet us.”
Graeme Fleming emails in. “Why do Fifa not take opportunity to introduce that only the captain can speak to referee and anybody else will be sent off? Time to stop this shocking behaviour.” It’s a seemingly sane proposal, and one which offers the amusing prospect of players surrounding their captain, demanding he delivers their views to the ref.
Stop press: the US have won the World Cup. In Quidditch.
The U.S. has won the Quidditch World Cup for the 3rd time in the title’s 4-year history pic.twitter.com/fL9oV1kOyA
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) July 4, 2018
Is Jordan Pickford too short to be a world class keeper? That was the suggestion of Thibaut Courtois after his Belgium teammate Adnan Januzaj curled an unstoppable effort past England’s No 1 in the group stage game. Gareth Southgate was quick to heap praise on Pickford after he produced one of, if not the, save of the tournament against Colombia, before his shootout heroics in Moscow.
Top eight short keepers (in no particular order), according to the Blizzard:
- Jorge Campos – 1.68m
- Óscar Pérez – 1.72m
- František Plánička – 1.72m
- Gianpiero Combi – 1.74m
- René Higuita – 1.76m
- Gyula Grosics – 1.78m
- Ladislao Mazurkiewicz – 1.79m
- Jan Jongbloed – 1.79m
And you could maybe add Fabian Barthez (1.80m) to that list.
No one’s getting carried away. Not at all. djkbrown2001 writes: “Greece won euro 2004. This could be England’s year. And Harry Kane becomes Sir Harry Kane. Definitely would have to be knighted if England wins it.”
“Morning Mike.” Hi Matt Loten. “After a fairly sleepless night during which Three Lions was ringing around my head until 2am, I am researching the penalties through bleary eyes over my morning coffee. Name on the trophy and all that. I actually thought the referee had a good game. He made it clear from the get-go that if Colombia were going to be physical he would punish them. Assuming that the yellow for the headbutt was the VAR’s call, he was right on all the big decisions, and he wasn’t intimidated by when the Colombians tried to intimidate him as the game wore on. I’m sure the Colombians will disagree, but that’s academic anyway, as it was always coming home.” I share your certainty that Colombians won’t agree, but yes, the referee did well to notionally keep a lid on things in what was a fairly intimidating atmosphere. Did he get Lingard’s penalty shout right though?
Without wanting to tempt fate, (Sir) Gareth Southgate really does seem like a decent chap. He talks in a considered, honest manner that is mightily refreshing for a man in his position and his head, for now, appears to be firmly screwed on. Of course it helps he’s enjoying some success and he could yet end up depicted as a root vegetable on the front page of a tabloid, but for now, it’s something of a love-in.
“For the belief of this group of players, and groups of players to come, it was a really important moment. Not just winning the shootout but having to suffer at the end of the game in a stadium that was five to one Colombian fans and felt like an away fixture. To come through all of that – we’ve spoken to the players about writing their own stories. Tonight they showed they don’t have to conform to what’s gone before. They have created their own history, and I don’t want to go home yet.”
Given the euphoria, you’d think England had already won the whole shebang. They haven’t, and with Sweden next up, they’ll do well to further their interest beyond Saturday. The Swedes have now accounted for Switzerland (ranked sixth in the world by Fifa, for what that’s worth) and Germany in Russia, to go with the prized scalps of the Netherlands in qualifying and Italy in the playoff. That’s quite the hit list. And all without Zlatan. Or quite possibly, because Zlatan’s not about. Not that coach Janne Andersson wants to talk about you-know-who.
“I’m not going to talk about how things were before. We talk about now and this squad. It’s just full steam ahead and, God dammit, we are going to put in a bloody good match. We are not satisfied with this. We want to win the next match.”
Sachin Nakrani spent the night in a Colombian bar in London’s Elephant and Castle to sample the atmosphere. Needless to say, it was a rollercoaster.
“By 5.50pm it was standing-room only inside and, while a smattering of the 350-strong crowd were England supporters, the majority had come to cheer on Colombia, any sense of divided loyalties among a group of people who can trace their lives in London back to the first wave of Colombian immigrants that arrived to the United Kingdom in the early 1980s left at the door.
“Pre-kick-off excitement quickly gave way to nervousness given England’s early domination. It was not going how the crowd here wanted and, sensing that, the in-house DJ called for chanting: “Co-lombia! Co-lombia!” The call was met but halfheartedly so and it was not until Juan Quintero’s shot just before half-time that those in attendance rediscovered their excitement.”
So, shootout joy/heartbreak aside, what of the actual game itself? For the large part, it was a turgid, niggly affair punctuated by far too many stoppages. It was one of those frustrating games to watch that never really found its flow until Colombia were forced to chase an equaliser. And you have to feel for the referee, who tried his best to keep a lid on things, but in doing so was forced to blow his whistle far too often. He had no choice really. Still, he’ll surely cop some flak from Colombia in the coming weeks.
Who was man-of-the-match in Moscow? Which England player only merited 5 out of 10? Marcus Christensen runs the rule over both sets of players:
Over to Barney Ronay, with a tribute to man-of-the-moment, Jordan Pickford:
“Not all heroes wear capes. Not all people capable of flying through the air, arms outstretched to produce a moment of mind-bending, match-turning athleticism wear capes. But Pickford was both of these things in Moscow.
Jordan Henderson set the platform and Eric Dier delivered the decisive blow, but you’ve got to give Gareth Southgate some credit for ending England’s penalty hoodoo at World Cups – it’s an issue close to his heart and he clearly doesn’t want to see any of his current players go through what he did post-Euro-96. Southgate said his miss against Germany will stick with him forever, but his decision to employ the psychologist Pippa Grange and prepare the players for the eventuality of penalties has paid dividends. As he said last night, future generations now have the belief it can be done. And the impact of that cannot be underestimated.
Here it is: Henderson knows he’s dodged a bullet.
Of all the great photos of a memorable night, this is a corker for the story it tells in a single moment. There’s another image, from television, of the England team’s celebrations at the moment Dier’s penalty hit the back of the net – everyone hares off to jump on the scorer and Pickford, with the notable exception of Jordan Henderson, who simply sinks to his knees, apparently overcome by sheer relief. I’ll try to dig that one out.
Love this photo of Pickford's save. Dier's face - he knows what he has to do! #ENGCOL pic.twitter.com/0b7c2NyKt9
— Fiona Woollett (@FionaWoollett) July 3, 2018
“Hand of Jord”, “Spot luck”, “Spot on”... just some of the UK papers headlines to help ease sore heads upon waking. Here’s the rest of them:
It’s difficult to judge from afar, and Sydney is the definition of far from England, but I’d hazard a guess there were wild celebrations following the shootout win in Moscow. There is photo evidence:
Max and the team try to come to terms with England’s shootout win in today’s podcast, while they also look at the Sweden-Switzerland game – one low on incident, but high on ballooned shots and fizzers going out for throw-ins – and give an update on Mrs Granqvist.
And there we have it. The quarter-final lineup is complete and, after yet another night of drama – if not entirely high-level football – England joined Sweden as the final names to fill out in the last-eight bracket of our wallcharts.
Sweden’s 1-0 win over Switzerland – courtesy of Emil Forsberg’s deflected strike midway through the second half – is unlikely to be too fondly remembered in the World Cup annals but over in Moscow, it was a slightly different story. Well, at least for long-suffering England fans.
For a largely spiteful 120 minutes of a pretty ugly spectacle filled with more stoppages, playacting, diving, recriminations and remonstrations than you can shake an angry fist at, the game went entirely to script. Colombia’s injury-time equaliser was almost preordained.
Then, just as England’s inglorious penalty past appeared set to repeat once more, the narrative veered into uncharted territory. This is, after all, Gareth’s New England. Jordan Pickford and Eric Dier did their stuff and England, it turns out, are indeed capable of winning a penalty shootout at a World Cup.
What it means, of course, is that football is still on its way home. Woot. It’s just a bit late, and not exactly walking in a straight line – more weaving about like a drunken fan after five pints and a kebab. But it will get there in the end. Won’t it?
The answer to that (or not) and much more to come over the coming hours on a day that has no live football (eek). I’ll be here for the next few hours to pick through the reaction to both the above games, plus any other World Cup-related news if and when it breaks. And, course, we’ll endeavour to continue our rolling coverage of Neymar. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s still going.
Throughout the course of the day/evening/whatever it is where you are, please do feel free to get in touch on email (mike.hytner@theguardian.com) or Twitter (@mike_hytner) or below the line. Meanwhile, you could do worse than sign up for the World Cup Fiver.
