England beat Colombia on penalties despite more Mina heroics
The Three Lions won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Moscow
England are through to the quarterfinals of the World Cup after beating Colombia 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Moscow on Tuesday.
Eric Dier slotted home the winning spot kick after Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca had missed for Colombia.
Barcelona defender Yerry Mina had scored a late equaliser to take the game to extra-time after Harry Kane’s second half penalty.
Sweden are waiting for England in the last eight on Saturday after beating Switzerland earlier on Tuesday.
England were the better side in the first half but wasted their best chances while Colombia looked to hit them on the break.
The second half quickly became a farce, with players on both teams diving, moaning and looking to con the referee.
Mark Geiger, the man in the middle, eventually grew tired of all the scuffling, especially at set plays, and gave a penalty to England when Kane was hauled down at a corner.
The Tottenham striker, the top scorer at the World Cup now with six, slotted home from 12 yards.
England retreated after taking the lead and gradually let Colombia come on to them, with Juan Cuadrado firing a good chance over.
Uribe’s brilliant long-range effort was turned over by Jordan Pickford in stoppage time but Mina headed home his third goal of the finals from the resulting corner.
Colombia started extra-time on top but England finished it better, with Jamie Vardy having having two half chances and Danny Rose slashing a great opening wide.
It went to penalties and after Radamel Falcao, Kane, Cuadrado, Marcus Rashhford and Luis Muriel had all scored, Jordan Henderson missed to leave Colombia in the driving street.
But misses from Uribe and Bacca, plus a cool penalty from Kieran Trippier, allowed Dier to send England into then last eight for the first time since 2002.
