Oh dear.. it really could come home
Kane’s England finally bury penalties jinx
ENGLAND 1 COLOMBIA 1
ENGLAND WIN 4-3 ON PENALTIES .. HONEST!
ERIC DIER claimed he “had to score” as he buried England’s penalty hoodoo and sent their fans into wild celebration. After having victory snatched from
their grasp in stoppage time, Gareth Southgate’s young Lions succeeded where so many England teams have failed in the past in the penalty shootout.
Jordan Pickford brilliantly saved Colombia’s final penalty one-handed from Carlos Bacca, leaving Dier to hold his nerve and beat David Ospina, sending England on to Samara to play Sweden in Saturday’s quarter-final.
And England’s hero Dier said: “It was a nervous one.
“I’ve never really been in a situation like that before but felt I had to score after missing the header at the end so I’m just thankful I scored!
“Jordan is a fantastic goalkeeper and deserves everything. His attitude is brilliant and he’s been brilliant in training and taken it into the game.
“To get knocked down like we did is difficult to come back from. We knew what we had to do and we stayed calm. We never panicked. We were ready for that.”
Pickford’s save came after Colombia had scored three penalties but also hit the bar and the Everton keeper was confident he could come to England’s rescue after he made a stunning save in the 90th minute.
He explained he had done his homework to try not to follow a succession of England goalkeepers to walk off the loser after a shootout.
Pickford said: “I did all my research. I’ve got power and agility.
“I don’t care if I’m not the biggest keeper because it’s about being there in the moment and making the save and I was.
“It’s all about the set position and I got a hand to it. We knew we had this game, even if it had to go to penalties, we knew we were capable of winning.”
Colombia had six players booked and were lucky not to be reduced to 10 men in the first half when Wilmar Barrios headbutted Jordan Henderson in the box while waiting for a free-kick to be taken.
Referee Kurt Geiger showed only a yellow card but after two hours of tension, England finally got what they deserved from Dier’s spot-kick.
Kieran Trippier stepped up on the biggest night of his career but held his hands up for putting England through the wringer.
Trippier was on the far post when Colombia scored in stoppage time and took the blame for the equaliser.
But he scored in the shootout and said: “I thought we played really well in the first half and for their goal, it was a mistake by myself.
“I thought he was going to head it straight in but I could not adjust when he headed it down, I was gutted.
“I keep going on about the spirit of the team, we carried on, we believed and in the shootout, we have some great takers.
“We practised and practised and it paid off. Pick a spot in training. I was always going to put it in the same place.”
But all that practice did not prevent Jordan Henderson’s penalty, England’s third, from being saved. And Henderson said: “We have been practising them for a while now and the manager picked the five that he wanted.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t score but the other lads were brilliant.”
Southgate – who knows what it is like to be on the losing end of a shootout as an England player – said the victory was “fantastic”. And he added: “I think we deserved it as well.
“We showed incredible resilience to come back from huge disappointment at the final whistle and keep our calm. It’s a special moment for us.”
England skipper Harry Kane, who scored the penalty that put England 1-0 up in the second half and also converted the first spot-kick in the shootout, said England had showed great character after conceding at the death.
Kane said: “We were so unlucky not to go through in 90 minutes. No one laid on the floor and we stood there when it counted.
“It was a big night for England. In the shootout we had to stand up and that’s what we have done.”
We deserved it. We showed incredible resilience SOUTHGATE