‘They are the dirtest side I’ve ever faced’
STONES BLASTS COLOMBIA’S TACTICS IN LAST-16 CLASH
CITY’S John Stones has branded Colombia the ‘dirtiest’ team he has ever faced as the fall-out from England’s World Cup clash continues.
The Blues centre-back admits he was astounded at the tricks Colombia played during the last-16 clash in Moscow on Tuesday.
England won 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extratime to book a quarter-final clash with Sweden tomorrow.
But Stones highlighted a number of incidents - including Wilmar Barrios avoiding a red card for a headbutt on Jordan Henderson and was critical of Colombia’s physical and mental provocation throughout the match.
He said: “The game was so strange. It was the dirtiest team I’ve ever come up against, in the respect of when we won a penalty, surrounding the referee, pushing the referee, the headbutt you’ve all seen, scuffing the penalty spot, a lot of off-the-ball stuff I’m sure you’ve not heard about.
“All the sort of things you don’t really hear in a football match.
“On our behalf it showed massive character to keep a cool head and not get dragged into their game.
“We stuck to our plan and kept playing our way of football and that’s a great quality to have.
“It was a difficult situation but one we’ve overcome and can be proud of.”
Stones, though, refused to go into detail over exactly what Colombia were doing off the ball.
He said: “I’d rather not, it would get me in a bit of trouble.
“I’ve never seen a game like that before and how they behaved.
“I thought there could have been several red cards - mainly offthe-ball stuff.
“If the referee sees the headbutt it’s a totally different game.
“The best thing for us was to beat them at football, that is the biggest thing which will hurt them.
“They’re on the plane going home and we’re in the next round.
“We stuck to our gameplan and to beat them at football, that will hurt more than us getting into a scrap.”
Stones confirmed Jamie Vardy did not train with the group yesterday as he nurses a groin injury ahead of the game with Sweden in Samara.
And he issued a warning to those who believe England now have an easy passage to the final, with Sweden tomorrow followed by a possible semifinal with Croatia.
He said: “There are no easy games.
“If you say it’s an easy game in a quarter-final of the World Cup you’d be stupid. Sweden have a lot of quality.”
Vardy was the only absentee as England trained yesterday ahead of the game. Preparations have gone up a gear after the squad spent a day recovering from the exertions of the dramatic victory over Colombia. Leicester striker Vardy was a second-half substitute on Tuesday and looks a major doubt for the Sweden game due to a groin strain that needed an injection after the match. Stones said: “Vards was the only one actually who wasn’t in training - a bit more of a precautionary thing. “But I know from speaking to him he’s fighting to get back out on the training pitch and be ready for the next game.” Meanwhile, Sweden captain Andreas Granqvist says he will play against England, but could fly home before the clash to attend the birth of his child. The defender’s wife Sofia is due to give birth, which had left him a doubt for tomorrow.
I thought there could have been several red cards – mainly off-the-ball stuff
John Stones