ENGLAND’S DRAMATIC VICTORY
IAN HERBERT
He doesn’t make a song and dance about things — that’s why Kieran Trippier gets overlooked. But he’s been a revelation in this campaign and last night was no different. He’s the best england deliverer of a dead ball since David Beckham, who did for Colombia with a free-kick at the France finals 20 years ago. His penalty kick was sublime, and he confirmed his ability with the ball at his feet. There was a ball drifted to the back post for Dele Alli and a clipped ball into the right channel for Raheem Sterling. A sharper cutting edge from england and either could have been converted. And Trippier’s got the defensive component, too. He was unmoved when Radamel Falcao tried to provoke him and he did not let Carlos Bacca pass down the Brazil left. Few envisaged quite what an england player Trippier would be this summer.
CHRIS SUTTON
AFTER Thibaut Courtois criticised Jordan Pickford for his failure to stop Adnan Januzaj’s goal for Belgium in the final group game, it was fantastic to see England’s No 1 make such a brilliant save in the penalty shootout. England were a bit flat in extra time but overall their performance was very impressive. They were extremely disciplined in the face of some pretty intense provocation. The Colombians were an absolute disgrace with their intimidation tactics throughout the game. But England’s players kept their heads and refused to get sucked in which, in such a high pressure game, is a really good sign. They were able to grind it out and get the result. That is all that matters in knockout football.
GRAHAM POLL
COLOMBIA should have been down to 10 men after Wilmar Barrios headbutted Jordan Henderson. Referee Mark Geiger was let down by his VAR who advised the American that a yellow card was sufficient punishment. Protocol wasn’t followed as it was a clear case of violent conduct. A penalty couldn’t be given as the ball was out of play but england were rightly awarded a spot kick when Harry Kane was wrestled to the ground although the mass protests were terrible to watch. Colombia used the distraction to rough up the spot, using every dark art. england were no angels either as John Stones caught Radamel Falcao in the head and Harry Maguire went down easily in the area. england were denied a second penalty when Jesse Lingard was tripped, once again VAR let Geiger down. This was a horrible game to referee, made harder by the VAR not helping out.
PETER CROUCH
I’VE seen plenty of gamesmanship in my time but the way the Colombians were stamping on the spot, trying to make the surface uneven for Harry Kane, was disgraceful. It says so much about Harry, though, that he was able to hold his nerve for that three-minute break in play, batting away every distraction and then slot his kick past David Ospina. I’ve said he is different class many times and here was another example. There was so much about his performance that was so good. I watched him put his body in the way of the ball and defenders to hold play up and it was faultless. He had to contend with some difficult treatment but never allowed himself to get sucked into it. He deserved to leave the field a winner. Thank goodness he did.