Last night we had a great escape against Colombia on penalties.
Did you know England have had three penalty shootouts at the World Cup? (1990, 1998 and 2006) and we have lost all three of them. So when Jordan Hendersen stepped up to take England's third penalty only to produce a weak side footer which was easily saved by the Colombian keeper, you can bet your bottom dollar (or pound sterling will do) that every England fan was thinking here we go again!
This made last night an even greater and extraordinary escape, probably on the same scale as when David Beckham scored with a last minute free kick against Greece to put England into the 2002 world cup. As is predictable of many penalty shootouts, one team misses and then the opposition decides to jump on the bang wagon. This was the case with Colombia as up stepped Mateus Uribe to hit the under side of cross bar, fortunately for England not quiet enough of the under side as the ball bounced down and back out from goal.
Warranted Pessimism
You could pretty much guess what was on most England fan's and player's minds next, Kieran Trippier is going to fluff the next penalty for England. It's written in the stars that England will never, ever win a penalty shootout, even when handed a lifeline. So it was much to everyone's relief when he rifled into the top corner his penalty kick leaving Colombia with a big question mark dangling ominously over their heads - can they now handle the pressure?
Carlos Bacca was the man to answer this question either way for Colombia and up he stepped looking understandably a tad bit nervous. He opted to go down the middle of the goal. Thankfully and somewhat overdue Jordan Pickford was telegraphed his intend and produceda heroic save to take England through to the quarter finals!
We had officially broken our duck's egg with penalties and you could tell England fans even when delirious, were somewhat in a state of shock that for once we had managed to get through on a penalty shootout. I personally was massively relieved we didn't follow Spain out penalties and that most of the England players managed to keep their nerve under pressure.
Sucker Punched...
30 minutes before the penalty drama though, there was earlier drama for England as we had conceded an equaliser in virtually the last minute of injury time. This was a bitter pill to swallow having had probably the better of the match, a real sucker punch which seemed to knock all the wind out of England in extra time.
The problem was England although looking dangerous on the ball at times, didn't create enough opportunities meaning we had to be clinical with the few golden chances we had. Tottenham duo Kane and Alli were both guilty of missing close range headers in normal time.
So England were only sitting on a 1 goal lead thanks to one of the most blatant fouls you'll ever see in football on Harry Kane by Colombia's Carlos Sanchez. Kane dispatched the penalty with ease. But any team leading 1-0 are always going to look a little shaky and as time ticked down England took their foot off the gas and let Colombia have a strong period of attack which lead to an equaliser in the 93rd minute with a great header from Yerry Mina.
Such a climax to the initial 90 minutes of play lead to a somewhat deflated period of extra time. The match even with 30 minutes of extra time to go had Penalty Shootout written all over it.
A Great Escape Isn't Complete without a Touch of Irony
It was rather ironic that England broke their penalty duck with a manager who himself was victim of a glaring penalty miss that sent England crashing out of Euro 96 against Germany. Southgate would have probably been the most relieved Englishman alive, after all how haunting would it have been to live with a big penalty miss as an England player and then a big penalty failure as England manager too!
What Next for the Three Lions?
As predicted by most not just myself England will play Sweden in the next game. Having personally sat through 90 minutes of tedious football between the Swiss and the Swedes I can safely say I'm not quaking in my boots at the prospect of playing Sweden.
The Quarter Finals is England's to loose because this England team if they are playing at their best will beat the Swedish team playing at their best. However...Sweden's main strength comes in their organisation and defense. They have conceded two goals so far to England's four so they could prove hard to break down. They did also produce a great result against Mexico putting 3 goals past them so they maybe be welcomed as England's next opponents compared to the likes of the other half of the table but should not be underestimated.
One step at a time but we dare to keep dreaming...atleast for now!
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