Stones calls Colombia ‘dirtiest team’ he has faced

REPINO, Russia — England defender John Stones has described Colombia as the “dirtiest team I’ve ever come up against,” and said his team’s ability to rise above the provocation is a sign of its growing maturity at the World Cup.

England won a penalty shootout Tuesday after a feisty, physical round-of-16 game finished 1-1 following extra time and with eight yellow cards handed out by the referee — tying for the most issued in any game in the tournament. Colombia’s players received six of them.

“I’ve never seen a game like this before and how they behaved,” said Stones, who has played five years in the Premier League and four years for England. “There were things that we’ve never experienced before.”

Among them, said Stones, was Colombia’s players surrounding and pushing the referee, headbutting Jordan Henderson and scuffing the penalty spot before Harry Kane’s second-half spot kick. Stones also highlighted a member of Colombia’s technical staff barging into Raheem Sterling as the players came off for halftime.

“It’s obviously their image and how they’ve represented their country,” Stones said Thursday. “We stuck to our game plan and never got involved in the brawl that they wanted. At the end of the day, they are on the plane back home.”

England’s players weren’t completely innocent, however, with Henderson getting booked and appearing to use his head to barge into an opponent. Argentina great Diego Maradona criticized American referee Mark Geiger and said the outcome of the game was a “monumental theft,” comments he apologized for Thursday after FIFA rebuked him.