NO FEAR OF PENALTIES NOW
Southgate pledged a new approach to shootouts, and he was as good as his word . . .
AFTER 999 days without an international goal, Raheem Sterling must have hoped he would be the perfect man for an emergency last night.
But he was off before this tense, torturous and at times exasperating match had even reached the point where he could have rescued England. Hooked after 88 minutes, it was not until the match entered second-half stoppage time that Gareth Southgate’s side actually had to consider the terrifying prospect of penalties.
For Sterling this proved another challenging occasion, and one that for England’s No 10 felt like a distinctly unfair fight. Directly up against the diminutive Manchester City forward was a giant of a defender, Yerry Mina standing more than nine inches taller and what looked about six weight divisions heavier than his opponent.
Too big even for England’s defenders, it turned out, when he rose above Harry Maguire to score that stoppage-time equaliser, his third goal of the tournament.
For Sterling it was some battle. When the Colombian positioned himself directly behind him they were like player and mascot, and when at one stage Sterling found Mina climbing on his back they
suddenly resembled a jockey carrying a horse.
To Sterling’s credit he managed to escape Mina’s clutches on a number of occasions, proving such a nuisance the defender resorted to pretending he had been sent crashing to the ground by a nonexistent shove.
But for all the good positions Sterling took up, he at times remained a source of frustration. Watching here for the BBC, Chris Waddle was exasperated by the quality of the final ball and what he considered a lack of vision.
He said had Juan Quintero been playing for England, they would have been two goals up before the break. Playing as a No 10 in place of the injured James Rodriguez, Quintero did not have much joy either in a Colombian side that lacked invention and flair.
Generally it has been a good tournament thus far for No 10s, with Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric, Eden Hazard and Neymar among
those to have excelled. For Gareth Southgate the wait continues for his playmaker to catch fire, even if he delivered the perfect ball for Jesse Lingard to score England’s best goal of this tournament.
Southgate would have tried to focus on the positives. He would have seen Sterling as a reason why a team hoping to progress to a World Cup quarter-final could still improve; go up another gear. But England will reflect on this game knowing they need to be more creative and knowing that more needs to come from the creative players.
Kieran Trippier delivered a superb cross that Kane almost converted with a close- range header but, that deflection aside, all the England captain’s goals have come from set-pieces. There was no shortage of effort, of course, with England’s forwards trying to force more openings. The sight of Sterling embarking on a surging 50-yard run on 76 minutes that concluded with a ball into the path of Lingard was evidence of that.
But one goal that came as the result of Carlos Sanchez’s ludicrous challenge on Kane made for a nervous conclusion to this last16 clash, with England looking vulnerable as fatigue kicked in. And this, remember, was a team who sat out the previous game.
That said, England still emerge with credit. Sure, Colombia were
weakened significantly by that injury to James. But England performed well for the most part, coping not just with the pressure of knockout football but an atmosphere that made this arena feel more like Bogota than Moscow.
A sea of golden shirts created a deafening chorus of whistles and jeers whenever England were in possession, and yet their composure and confidence remained mightily impressive. Cool heads were certainly needed with Colombia so determined to employ the dark arts so often in a bid to gain an advantage.
It was a dangerous tactic that should have brought at least one red card for that headbutt on Jordan Henderson but still led to five bookings before extra time began. That said, Ashley Young flirted dangerously with dismissal in the first half of extra time.
Southgate must have cursed his luck when Colombia did score,
having seen Jordan Pickford make a magnificent fingertip save to deny Mateus Uribe only moments earlier. And having then seen Trippier so nearly save England in his position at the post, only to send his header against the underside of the crossbar.
By then, of course, Sterling had been taken off, Southgate sending on fresh legs and perhaps fresh ideas in the form of Jamie Vardy. Little did Southgate realise, however, that within five minutes the scores would be level.
Southgate clearly wanted to avoid a penalty shootout, sending on Marcus Rashford in the final few minutes in determined pursuit of that winning goal. It never came, the responsibility falling not to Sterling but to Jordan Pickford — and ultimately Eric Dier — to secure England’s first shootout victory in 22 years.