WATCH: England Bucks World Cup Trend, Beats Colombia in Penalty Kicks
England. Penalty kicks. Big stage. It used to be a foregone conclusion of doom for the Three Lions. But not anymore.
England edged Colombia in penalty kicks 4-3 after a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes, reaching the 2018 World Cup quarterfinals in dramatic fashion. Colombia center back Yerry Mina's 93rd-minute penalty kick forced extra time, after Harry Kane's second-half penalty kick had seemingly put England in control, and the two played through a scoreless extra 30 minutes to go to the shootout round, where England has notoriously failed.
Colombia kicked first in the shootout round, with Radamel Falcao beating Jordan Pickford with a powerful finish down the center, but Kane answered with a confident finish of his own, tucking a low chance to the left. Juan Cuadrado followed with a powerful finish of his own, beating Pickford high and to the left, only for Marcus Rashford to follow Kane's lead and go the same way to make it 2-2 through two rounds.
Luis Muriel continued Colombia's good form from the spot, and David Ospina came up with the game-changing moment next. He denied Jordan Henderson with a sensational diving save to his left, making it 3-2 through three rounds.
Mateus Uribe gave England life when he hit the crossbar with his chance, and Kieran Trippier made good on the opportunity, converting to make it 3-3 after four rounds apiece.
Pickford then came up huge, making a clutch save on Carlos Bacca, setting the stage for Eric Dier to win it, which he did with a shot like Kane and Rashford.
The whole shootout can be seen here:
England will play against Sweden in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
England started out like the better team and secured the first threat of the match, with Dele Alli, back from a thigh injury, playing Raheem Sterling down the left-hand side. He tried to cut back and cross on Mina, who committed a handball with his sliding challenge deep in Colombia territory. The ensuing free kick by Ashley Young from a tight angle was punched away by Ospina in the sixth minute.
England came close to opening the scoring in the 16th minute. Trippier completed an overlapping run down the right before firing in a cross from the end line toward the back post. Kane was there to meet it, but he couldn't direct his header on frame, as it sailed over the bar to keep things 0-0.
Colombia got a bit fortunate in the 40th minute, when Wilmar Barrios was given only a yellow card by Geiger for an apparent headbutt to Henderson in the box with England and Colombia players jockeying for position in the wall while England lined up for a free kick. When all was settled, Trippier curled in a dangerous chance from 20 yards, bending it just wide of the left post to keep the match scoreless.
Colombia finally tested Pickford in first-half stoppage time on a speculative effort, with Juan Quintero putting a low blast from distance on target. In truth, though, England dominated the run of play over the first half, despite only having two good looks on goal.
England's best chances were coming from set pieces, and it had a dangerous opportunity in the 53rd minute off another free kick. Young bent the ball in toward the far post, where Harry Maguire and Kane were waiting, but Davinson Sanchez came to the rescue to steer it out for a corner.
On that corner, disaster struck for Colombia. Carlos Sanchez, who was red carded three minutes into Colombia's World Cup opener, wrestled Kane to the ground on the corner, with Geiger not hesitating in awarding a penalty.
After a lengthy wait, with Colombia players pleading their case to Geiger, Kane had his spot kick, and he converted, scoring his World Cup-leading sixth goal of the competition and giving England a 1-0 lead in the 58th minute.
Colombia hardly looked threatening at all, but it nearly pulled even in the 81st minute. Out of nothing, Colombia broke forward with numbers after a turnover in the midfield. Bacca, off the bench, pushed forward before passing to Cuadrado on his right. The winger shanked his chance from inside the box, though, letting England off without any trouble.
When it looked like England would play out the string and finish off the victory, Colombia pulled even. It started with a long-range blast out of nowhere from Mateus Uribe, who forced Pickford into an acrobatic save.
On the ensuing corner kick, Mina was first to meet it, heading down for his third goal of the competition and tying it up in the 93rd minute.
It took a bit in extra time for either side to threaten, and Colombia fired the first warning shot in the 104th minute. Falcao was first to Johan Mojica's cross from the left, but he misdirected his header wide of the goal, under pressure from Maguire in defense.
England substitute Jamie Vardy looked like he'd have a chance in the 108th minute, but he whiffed on his shot from the right side of the box, instead having it trickle off its heel, as Colombia cleared.
England came close again in the 112th, when Henderson played Danny Rose into the left side of the box. He fired low across the goalmouth, narrowly missing the far post from a tight angle. Another chance came minutes later, when Dier had a free header in the center of the box, only to put it well over the bar. Dier would make up for his miss later in PKs, though, sending England through to the final eight.
Here were the lineups for both teams:
Here are the rosters for both sides:
COLOMBIA
Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Arsenal), Camilo Vargas (Deportivo Cali), José Fernando Cuadrado (Once Caldas)
Defenders: Cristian Zapata (Milan), Dávinson Sánchez (Tottenham), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven), Óscar Murillo (Pachuca), Frank Fabra (Boca Juniors), Johan Mojica (Girona), Yerry Mina (Barcelona)
Midfielders: Wílmar Barrios (Boca Juniors), Carlos Sánchez (Espanyol), Jefferson Lerma (Levante), José Izquierdo (Brighton Hove & Albion), James Rodríguez (Bayern Múnich), Abel Aguilar (Deportivo Cali), Mateus Uribe (América), Juan Fernando Quintero (River Plate), Juan Cuadrado (Juventus)
Forwards: Radamel Falcao (Mónaco), Miguel Borja (Palmeiras), Carlos Bacca (Villarreal), Luis Fernando Muriel (Sevilla)
Manager: Jose Pekerman
ENGLAND
Goalkeepers: Jack Butland (Stoke), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Nick Pope (Burnley)
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Kieran Trippier (Tottenham), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Ashley Young (Manchester United), Fabian Delph (Manchester City), Kyle Walker (Manchester City), John Stones (Manchester City), Harry Maguire (Leicester), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Phil Jones (Manchester United)
Midfielders: Eric Dier (Tottenham), Jesse Lingard (Manchester United), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea), Dele Alli (Tottenham), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool)
Forwards: Harry Kane (Tottenham), Jamie Vardy (Leicester), Marcus Rashford (Manchester United), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City), Danny Welbeck (Arsenal)
Manager: Gareth Southgate
