ERIC DIER says he cannot remember the last time he scored from the spot before his penalty fired England into the quarter-finals.

That is hardly surprising, considering the Tottenham midfielder had never taken a penalty in senior football before Tuesday night’s shoot-out against Colombia.

Growing up in Portugal, Dier’s mates rarely turned to him when a penalty was awarded as they knew all about England’s woeful record in tournaments.

So Dier’s lack of a penalty pedigree makes his winning kick past David Ospina all the more impressive.

He was not told he would definitely be taking a penalty, or that he would be number five in the order, until a few minutes before the shoot-out started.

Jamie Vardy, who had come on as a late substitute in normal time, would have taken the fifth kick but suffered a groin strain at the end of extra time.

It offers an insight into how much boss Gareth Southgate trusts the 24-year-old former Sporting Lisbon youngster and his mental toughness.

England’s preparation for the almost inevitable shoot-out had been meticulous.

“I didn’t know the order until the manager came up. He didn’t tell us before the game. I had no idea,” said Dier.

“Obviously with substitutions the order can change so after the extra time he just told me that I was number five.”

Dier was not the only spot-kick novice, with Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford calmly tucking away England’s second, despite never having taken a penalty at first-team level.

It was so long ago since Dier took one at any level, he can’t even remember when it was.

“In a match? I don’t know,” said Dier, who revealed that he felt calm when he walked from the centre circle with England’s World Cup fate hanging in the balance.

“It’s a strange one. Obviously you don’t do it very often so it’s a bit weird,” he added.

“At the time, I don’t really know what I was thinking about to be honest.

“While you’re waiting to take it, it’s nerve-racking but once I walked up, when I was going to take it, I was quite calm.

“I’d been very nervous while standing waiting but once I walked up there, I was alright. And I always knew where I was going to put it.

“Now, it feels good. I’m just really happy we won and we’re through to the next round.”

As a kid, Dier was ribbed by his mates whenever England fluffed their lines in shoot-outs – especially on the two occasions Portugal knocked them out of tournaments, in 2004 and 2006.

He said: “I grew up in Portugal so I’m very aware of the record.

“The Portuguese have done it most of the time so I’m really happy we’ve changed all that.

“The feeling of winning on penalties is kind of surreal. It takes over you. It’s fantastic.

“But I wasn’t actually in the dressing room when everyone got back in. I missed that because I was doing interviews.”