England laid long-standing ghosts to rest by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup via a penalty shootout.
Gareth Southgate’s men took a second-half lead – from the spot, as it were – but succumbed to an injury-time equaliser against Colombia, and after both sides held fort during extra time, the Three Lions were facing a dreaded penalty shootout.
The lottery of spot-kicks has never been kind to England, but they beat Colombia 4-3.
Here’s a closer look at Southgate’s performance on the night.
KEY STATS
Goals – 1
Shots – 16
Possession – 52%
Pass accuracy – 80%
Dribbles – 6
30-SECOND REPORT
Southgate stuck to his guns tactically – not that anyone expected otherwise – and remained committed to attacking football throughout, even though England still struggled to create chances from open play.
His man management is paying dividends, as this game showed how much the confidence is flowing through this England side – not least with their star striker. Harry Kane always seems to hold his nerve from the penalty spot.
Getting everyone else to do the same may end up being Southgate’s greatest achievement.
TACTICAL TALKING POINT
Attacking substitutions
Whether thinking ahead to penalties or simply trying to maintain as much of an attacking threat as possible, Southgate stayed bold with his substitutions. Instead of going conservative and bringing on a defender for Raheem Sterling with two minutes left in normal time, he made a like-for-like substitution with Jamie Vardy.
And when Kyle Walker went off injured, it was Marcus Rashford who replaced him. Vardy helped England control the second half of extra-time and Rashford converted a penalty.
VERDICT
Southgate’s contribution to this game was more in terms of rallying the troops, getting them to focus again after they’d been so close to securing the win in normal time only to be sucker-punched by an injury-time equaliser and then keeping nerves calm when his players were entering a dreaded penalty shootout.
His management allowed some redemption for his infamous penalty miss from Euro 96 – he’ll go down as manager of the first England side to win a World Cup penalty shootout.
RATING – 8/10
