AT LAST!
England win on penalties
AT last! England finally broke their penalty shoot-out hoodoo to go through to the World Cup quarter finals last night.
Goalie Jordan Pickford made a fantastic save from Colombia’s Carlos Bacca to put England ahead before super-cool Eric Dier tucked away his kick to send millions of fans back home into dreamland.
There were scenes of jubilation on the final whistle as Dier was mobbed by his teammates and the England fans in the stands danced and sang “football’s coming home”.
The WAGs – players’ wives and girlfriends – erupted in delight as their partners stormed to victory.
Harry Kane’s pregnant fiancee Kate Goodland, 25, posted a picture of him hugging John Stones after England’s big win. She captioned the image on her Instagram story, “Yes boys”.
Earlier she celebrated the striker’s second half penalty with another post which read, “balls of steel”.
Jamie Vardy’s wife Rebekah, 36, posted a photo of celebrations in the stadium with the caption “Aghhhhhhh” and England flag emojis.
And Prince William also tweeted his congratulations last night.
CONFIDENCE
England had lost on penalties at the World Cup in 1990, 1998, and 2006, suffering the agony of a shoot-out defeat at Euro 96 too – when England boss Gareth Southgate missed from the spot. They had lost six out of seven shoot outs before last night.
In Moscow, the travelling England fans savoured the victory.
Engineer Phil Storey, 56, of Newcastle, said: “It was a great win against very uncompromising opposition. “They were trying everything to stop us, and that was a real test for a very young team.”
He added: “In terms of confidence and discipline, this can only be a boost for the quarter finals.”
His friend Steve Trainor, 52, said: “When it was a shoot out I thought, ‘Oh no, not again’. But they were absolutely resolute. That was as good as we have been for a very long time.”
Brothers Josh, 25, and Sam Keates, 30, in Moscow with Sam’s father-inlaw Paul Robinson, 49, prepared to party with the Russians in Red Square last night. “What a night,” said Sam, a civil servant of Swindon, Wilts. “I think we could go all the way to the final now. I cannot believe we did it on penalties! “I always thought Colombia was going to be the toughest game. Gareth’s gamble playing the ‘B’ team against Belgium has really paid off.” England now go into the quarter final against Sweden as second favourites to win the World Cup. Penalty 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 [Pickford] 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 it.
“We knew what we had to do and we stayed calm. We never panicked. We were ready for that.”
Southgate’s young guns had been just seconds away from going through in full time. Colombia’s 6ft 5in defender Carlos Sanchez headed an equaliser for the South American side on 93 minutes to send their 25,000strong army of fans into ecstacy.
England fans would have been forgiven for thinking it would be the same old story when the match went to a penalty shoot-out.
But the Three Lions roared back and the hard-fought victory left millions wondering if this really could be our year – with our first World Cup final in 52 years.
William Hill make them 7/2 with France to win the competition, behind favourites Brazil.
Should England see off Sweden on Saturday they will play either Croatia or hosts Russia in the semis. England are the sole team in their half of the draw to have won the tournament. Sweden reached the final in 1958.
At home, the victory kicked off a night to remember, with a million workers expected to throw a “sickie” today after celebrating the win into the early hours.
Around 25 million armchair viewers tuned into see the game, with millions more in bars, clubs and restaurants across the country.
The WAGs, meanwhile, went through the tension and agony of extra time and penalties in the stands.
In the cauldron of noise, whistling and boos, they cheered and hailed their heroes on the final whistle.
Jack Butland’s fiancee Annabel
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England break spotkick curse in nail-biting finish »
Dier fires Three Lions into quarter final against Sweden