Gareth Southgate has praised his young side for keeping their composure in the face of Colombia’s street fighting approach in Moscow.
England advanced to a quarter-final showdown with Sweden on Saturday (3pm) following an agonising penalty shoot-out, but the biggest talking point of normal time was the South American side’s strategy.
Six members of their team were shown yellow cards, and Wilmar Barrios was lucky not to see red in the first-half for a blatant headbutt on Jordan Henderson. Colombia also questioned the referee’s decisions, and got particularly heated when he awarded England a penalty following Carlos Sanchez’s foul on Harry Kane.
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The England captain was fouled nine times in total, the most by a Three Lions player since Alan Shearer was targeted 11 times by the Tunisians in 1998.
“We didn’t rise to it in general, which was brilliant,” said Southgate. “We kept our composure in a really difficult environment. There were many, many fouls in the game and I do not think we committed anywhere near the number they did.”
There were moments in the match when referee Mark Geiger “appeared to lose complete control on proceedings”, says The Independent.
Even the South Americans’ back-room staff got involved, with one of their coaches, Eduardo Julio Urtasun, appearing to elbow Raheem Sterling as the England forward jogged towards the changing room at half-time.
Asked about his side’s physicality, Colombia’s Argentine manager Jose Pekerman said England were also to blame for the ugly scenes.
“We should not only look to Colombia but also England’s players,” he said. “In the next match England will be more careful. Today we were on the receiving end of this. It’s been so obvious, too obvious.”
What the pundits said about Colombia
Henry Winter in The Times: “For such a talented team, and a country who have given so much to the game, Colombia were frankly, frequently embarrassing.”
Former England defender Martin Keown, writing in the Daily Mail: “Not since England faced Argentina in the infamous 1966 quarter-final, which saw Antonio Rattin sent off, have we seen such disgraceful tactics. Yet in such a high-pressured situation, England’s trump card is Kane. As all around him were losing their heads, Kane kept his own.”
Former England winger Chris Waddle speaking to the BBC: “I hope Colombia get a hefty fine with whatever happens in this game. I feel sorry for the referee, who should have been waving red cards instead of yellow ones.”
Daily Mirror: “The dark arts embodied by Jose Pekerman’s side cast a shadow over this World Cup last-16 tie, with six Colombia players earning bookings from US ref Mark Geiger. The Colombia bench took every opportunity to exert pressure on the ref, and were warned throughout by the fourth official for encroaching and trying to influence decisions.”
Gareth Southgate on the casualties: “It’s like a scene from M*A*S*H in that dressing room.”
Gary Neville on Urtasun’s elbow: “That coach is a numpty for doing that to Raheem Sterling.”
Ex-referee Mark Clattenburg on Barrios’s headbutt: “The defender has put his head into Henderson’s chest, which is a yellow card. But then he lifts his head up, which to me is violent conduct. Instead of the referee being given his opinion by the [VAR] boys in Moscow, I’d rather see the ref go and make the correct right decision, which was a red card.”
