England ends penalty jinx to edge Colombia in shootout, Sweden also advances

ST PETERSBURG, July 3: England edged Colombia 4-3 on penalties to halt a run of five successive shootout defeats at major tournaments and book a quarter-final clash against Sweden at the World Cup.

Harry Kane fired England ahead with his tournament-leading sixth goal just before the hour in Moscow, converting a penalty after he was hauled down by Carlos Sanchez at a corner.
Gareth Southgate’s team looked to be heading into the last eight in regulation time until Yerry Mina equalised with a 93rd-minute header as the giant Colombian defender scored for the third game in a row.

Neither team could find an advantage in extra-time and so a bad-tempered match went to a nailbiting penalty shootout.

David Ospina dived superbly to his left to repel Jordan Henderson’s third penalty for England, but Manuel Uribe hit the crossbar before Jordan Pickford saved from Carlos Bacca.

Eric Dier drilled home the decisive spot-kick as England won for just the second time in eight penalty shootouts and reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2006.

JAMES RODRIGUEZ BLOW

Colombia were dealt a huge blow before kick-off as James Rodriguez failed to shake off a calf injury, the Bayern Munich midfielder not even fit enough for a place on the bench.

The 26-year-old was the Golden Boot winner with six goals in Brazil four years ago, when Colombia reached the quarter-finals for the first time.

Kane, Raheem Sterling and Dele Alli were among nine players recalled for England after Gareth Southgate rested the majority of his first-choice side for their final group game against Belgium.

Kane scored a combined five goals in the wins over Tunisia and Panama, and the Tottenham striker went close when his looping header back across goal landed on the roof of the net.

Sterling then did well to spin past the imposing Davinson Sanchez although his left-footed strike was charged down, while Kieran Trippier curled wide from a free-kick.

Wilmar Barrios was booked for leaning his head into the chest of Jordan Henderson as the game grew into an increasingly fiesty affair.

Pickford made his first save from a fizzing long-range effort from Juan Fernado Quintero, while Jesse Lingard sliced over after Colombia half-cleared a cross.

A member of the Colombia coaching staff appeared to deliberately barge Sterling as the Manchester City player headed towards the half-time at the interval, escaping with just a telling-off.

Kane made the breakthrough on 57 minutes after he was wrestled to the ground at a corner by Carlos Sanchez, the same player who was shown the first red card of the tournament in a 2-1 loss to Japan.

The England captain faced a lengthy wait as several Colombia players protested to the referee but he kept his nerve to beat north London rival Ospina, lifting his penalty just over the Arsenal goalkeeper’s outstretched leg.

Alli nearly added a second when his diving header at the far post flashed over the bar, with Lingard appealing for another spot-kick after he was caught by Davinson Sanchez.

Juan Cuadrado blazed over with 10 minutes to play, and it appeared Colombia’s hopes were up when Pickford made a terrific save to turn behind Manuel Uribe’s spectacular long-range strike.

But Mina rose powerfully to meet the resulting corner, with Trippier only able to help the ball in via the underside of the crossbar in the third minute of added-on time.

Substitute Danny Rose almost struck an extra-time winner when his angled shot whistled beyond the far post, and Eric Dier headed over unmarked at a corner before England’s luck deserted them again in all too familiar fashion.

Then, unlike so many times before, luck finally smiled on them in the shootout.

FORSBERG DELIVERS

Earlier, Sweden’s Emil Forsberg provided a rare moment of poise from a game badly in need of some inspiration to fire the Scandinavians into a first World Cup quarter-final for 24 years with the only goal against Switzerland on Tuesday.

The RB Leipzig midfielder neatly worked space for a shooting opportunity on the edge of the box 24 minutes from time, but still needed a slice of fortune to set up a last-eight meeting with England or Colombia as his shot deflected off Manuel Akanji to leave Yann Sommer stranded.

On paper the least attractive game of the last 16 unfortunately lived up to its billing with little for their quarter-final opponents to fear on Saturday.

However, while not the most pleasing side on the eye, Sweden’s basic approach with battering ram strikers Ola Toivonen and Marcus Berg in an old-fashioned 4-4-2 set-up has taken Janne Andersson’s side past the Netherlands and Italy in qualifying and helped send world champions Germany home at the group stage.

In keeping with Andersson’s emphasis on a team ethic for a squad lacking in individual star talent following Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s retirement from international football, Forsberg has had to sacrifice some of his qualities for the team.

Forced to play wide left of the midfield four rather than his favoured position in a central playmaking role that has seen him shine in the Bundesliga, Forsberg was often reduced to covering the ground than getting on the ball in Sweden’s three group games.

Even before his goal, Forsberg looked the most likely player to make an impact as Swiss duo Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka failed to shine in a bizarrely passive performance from the side ranked sixth in the world and given the chance to reach the quarter-finals for the first time since 1954, when they were the host nation.

However, Sweden lacked the finish even when they did get into good positions as Berg and Albin Ekdal fired horribly off target before the break. AFP