History created by hand of Pickford
REDEMPTION After three previous failures, England end curse of penalties to set up quarterfinal against Sweden
gone before. They have created their own history, and I don’t want to go home yet,” he added.
Home is still far off and Southgate will now need to focus on playing Sweden in the quarter-final to keep alive the bid to end a 52-year wait for a World Cup.
The game itself had been a drab affair. With creative engine James Rodriguez missing despite coach Jose Pekerman claiming he could be fit to play, Colombia resorted to skullduggery.
While Wilmar Barrios was surprisingly shown just a yellow for a head-butt on Henderson in the first half, Colombia’s physical approach fetched five more bookings.
It could perhaps have been more but at his post-match press conference, Pekerman instead accused England of diving.
“We shouldn’t only look at Colombian players. People should look at England players. I wish I was wrong but I think from the next match England will be much more careful,” he said.
“We are getting smarter. Maybe we played by the same rules as the rest of the world. But we kept our dignity and our sportsmanship and if we were down, it was because we were fouled. I am proud of the discipline,” Southgate responded.
Colombia’s disruptive tactics were often aimed at the referee too. When Carlos Sanchez brought Harry Kane down inside the box, Colombia held up play by a couple of minutes to argue their case. If it was also meant to disturb Kane, it didn’t work.
Colombia’s first major chance didn’t come until the 81st minute when Juan Cuadrado went over from a counter-attack.
Then, three minutes into injury-time, Yerry Mina headed in his third goal of the tournament to make it 1-1. There were many who felt England would crack under pressure as penalties ensued.
This time, however, Southgate’s side got the job done. Southgate’s boys had begun preparing for shootouts in March. The players were told to take penalty kicks at the end of almost every training session, and that too by walking from the centre circle. Southgate said before the Colombia game, “Regular penaltytakers have their set routines and they’re used to being in that situation.” In Euro 1996 semi-finals against Germany, a young Southgate himself volunteered to take the final kick but missed. Southgate feels penalty shootouts weren’t as common back then in domestic meets and they had less exposure. “The depth of knowledge and understanding wasn’t so great and we didn’t have as much information as we do now,” he said according to a Guardian report. The Three Lions have had a team of video analysts who had been studying the opposition. In fact, two of these analysts, Mike Baker and Stephen O’brien, were based in St Petersburg, with the squad. They had been studying the opposition penalty-takers as well as the diving patterns of the goalkeepers competing at the World Cup. Southgate earmarked five penaltytakers and their back-up options well before the tournament began. The manager has even prepared a list of the staff allowed to go onto the pitch and others he wants to stay away. He says players should ‘own the process’ and have control. “We have to know who is in charge, who can speak with clarity to the players,” said Southgate. England’s players had psychometric tests in the lead-up. The tests, done to study mental capabilities and behavioural style, were meant to help them get over nerves. “We wanted to ensure calmness — and it’s not decisions made on the spur of the moment. We have to ensure it doesn’t become too many voices in players’ heads,” he said.