Bonface Osano
England are through to the quarterfinals of the Russia World Cup after squeezing past Colombia 4-3 on penalty in Samara Tuesday.
The Three Lions were on course to finishing the business within 90 minutes after grabbing the lead through Harry Kane’s second half penalty but Colombia were not letting go easy.
With just seconds left on the clock, Yerry Mina delivered a sucker punch to send the match into extra time and penalty shout out.
England, who had lost all their previous three penalty shouts at the World Cup, never cracked under pressure this time and converted four out of five with the keeper saving one to sail through.
The Table
After a barren first half, Kane stepped forward to convert from the spot in the 57th minute after being fouled in the forbidden area by Carlos Sanchez to give England a narrow 1-0 lead.
But despite the setback, the North Americans were not giving up the fight and kept probing England’s rear guard for the equalizer.
READ: CS Balala Reinstates Sh.20 Million Brand Kenya Sponsorship Deal To Kenya 7s
And with just three added minutes to go, Barcelona’s center back Mina found the breakthrough from a corner kick – raising high to head home the leveler, his third goal in three consecutive matches.
He became the first player to score three headed goals at a single World Cup since Miroslav Klose, who had five, in 2002.
The extra time yielded no fruits and the tie had to be decided through the deaded penalty shootout.
England scored through Kane, Rashford, Tripper and Dier with Henderson missing his.
READ: KOT Angered After Football Legends Ignored During Kenyan World Cup Tour
Falcao, Cuadrado and Muriel were successful for Colombia with Uribe rattling the crossbar and Pickford saving Bacca’s.
Highlights
England will remain in Samara for their quarterfinal match against Sweden, who edged out Switzerland 1-0, on Sunday.
In the other quarters match-ups;
Friday 6th
Uruguay Vs France
Brazil Vs Belgium
Saturday 7th
Sweden Vs England
Russia Vs Croatia
Do you have a story you want told? Do you know of a sensitive story you would like us to get our hands on? Email your news TIPS to news@kahawatungu.com
