Colombia fall short of ’14 heights in a ‘painful’ exit
NIZNHY NOVGOROD, Russia/ BOGOTA, Colombia, July 4, (RTRS): Colombia can count themselves unfortunate to exit the World Cup after a shootout defeat to England, but in truth they were never able to recreate the swagger of their pioneering 2014 side.
Four years ago in Brazil, Colombia romped to the quarter-finals for the first time on the back of four straight wins, salsa-dancing to celebrate their dozen goals and launching midfielder James Rodriguez on the road to global stardom.
Their 2018 campaign was a mixed affair. An early red card hampered their chances in a loss to Japan but they looked full of pace, ambition and invention in sweeping past Poland. They left it late to beat Senegal but it was enough to top the group.
They then pushed England all the way in Tuesday’s tempestuous 1-1 draw in Moscow, until Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca failed to find the target from the spot.
Yet with cool-headed playmaker Rodriguez, top scorer in 2014, absent through injury, they lacked poise against England, resorted to committing multiple fouls and constant complaining, and lacked accuracy with the ball.
“It’s a shame James couldn’t play,” said lawyer Daniel Guerrero, 39, watching the game on a big screen at a mall in Bogota, where once noisy crowds fell painfully silent as Eric
Rodriguez
Dier scored the decisive penalty at the Spartak Stadium.
“If they hadn’t stolen that goal we would be in the quarter-finals,” he added, referring to the penalty awarded in normal time to England captain Harry Kane for manhandling in the box.
On social media, plenty of fans turned their ire on American referee Mark Geiger for the award of the penalty and six yellow cards for Colombia.
One mocking meme showed male officials at the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) headquarters distracted by images of Colombian women in the crowd, instead of watching the game.
Colombia’s devastated coach Jose Pekerman complained England tried to draw fouls but also acknowledged his team lacked poise in the final third, exemplified by forward Radamel Falcao, who huffed-and-puffed desperately with little impact.
They had nothing on target until injury time at the end of the first 90 minutes, and former England winger Chris Waddle called their 23 penalized fouls a “disgrace”.
“As soon as the ball was in the box, the players were not cool and composed. They were a bit afraid ... But we’ve been brave, we’ve fought hard, we’ve never thrown in the towel.” Pekerman said, as players consoled each other in tears.
“We had great ambitions. This is very difficult to accept. We are feeling hurt.”
Colombia at least have the consolation of showcasing another star in the form of towering defender Yerry Mina, whose three goals including Tuesday’s 93rd minute equaliser against England earned him the nickname “Mina de Oro” or gold mine.
The paper revels in being able to at last print: “It’s the headline we have waited a lifetime to write ... England win on penalties (Yes really!)”.
The Times announced drily: “Souvenir edition — commemorating an England penalty shootout win.”
Colombia are roundly panned for their behaviour, with England captain Harry Kane and his team complimented for their coolness in the face of intimidation.
Several former referees writing in the press said Wilmar Barrios should have been sent off rather than just booked for an apparent head butt on Jordan Henderson.
“Cheats did not prosper. They barged and butted our young Lions but we win battle of Moscow,” said the Daily Mail.
The Mirror labelled them: “Snarling, cynical Colombians,” while the Sun said: “Brute Force — Kane ‘n Co hold their own in street fight.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s quarter-final with Sweden in Samara, the media do not appear to have heeded manager Gareth Southgate’s claim that England have underestimated the Swedes for years.
“Sweden are like watching bad old England. There is ... Nothing to Fear,” trumpeted the Daily Mail.
The Sun believes the shine of beating Colombia will be well and truly taken off should they slip up against the Swedes.
“Fors is Strong ... Swedes have no stars ...Three Lions shouldn’t make Emil of it,” said the Sun, referring to goalscorer Emil Forsberg, whose strike earned a 1-0 win against Switzerland.
“If Gareth Southgate’s team cannot take care of this lot in the quarter-finals, they probably should not bother coming home.”
The Times, though, sees things rather differently and issues a warning: “Resolute Sweden a team to be reckoned with.”
Southgate said his team got the reward they deserved after edging Colombia 4-3 in a gut-wrenching World Cup penalty shootout to set up a quarter-final clash against Sweden.
“We had a cruel blow on 90 minutes which we had to show incredible resilience to come back from,” said a relieved Southgate, whose own penalty miss cost England
England fans sing before kick off as they gather to watch the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England on a big screen
in London on July 3. (AFP)
in the semifinals against Germany at Euro ‘96.
“It was a night when I knew we were going to get over the line. We had the belief and the resilience to get over the line.”
Southgate has challenged his players to write their own history after England’s poor recent results at finals.
England had lost five successive shootouts before luck finally smiled on them at the compact Spartak Stadium.
“Tonight was a classic example. They don’t have to conform to what’s gone before,” Southgate said.
“Today is a special moment for this team. Hopefully it will give belief to the generations of players that follow. In life you always have to believe what is possible and not be hindered by history or expectations.”
He reserved special praise for Pickford, who made a magnificent save to keep out a spectacular strike from Uribe before a vital stop in the shootout.
Pickford was criticised after conceding Adnan Januzaj’s winner in the group-stage loss to Belgium, including by his Belgian counterpart Thibaut Courtois, who said he was too small.
“It was a top-class save, I’m surprised he could reach it given his height,” Southgate said with a wry smile.
“He’s really athletic around the goal, he is excellent and he executed the plan in the penalty shootout.
“We’d studied all of their penalty takers and great credit to our collective of staff and to him for taking on board that information and preparing in the right way.
“You don’t always get what you deserve in life but tonight I think we did.”
England will have just three days to recover before facing Sweden in Samara on Saturday for a place in the semifinals.
“We’ve not got a good record against them. I think we’ve always underestimated them,” Southgate said.
Southgate admitted the gruelling nature of the match had taken its toll on his players, with Colombia shown six yellow cards.
“It’s like a scene from MASH in the dressing room. For some I think it’s just cramp and some need more assessment. We’ll know more over the next 36 hours,” he said.
After his side were shown six yellow cards, Colombia coach Jose Pekerman made clear his unhappiness with the performance by US referee Mark Geiger.
“The match was very rough, everybody knew the match would be like this,” Pekerman said.