In the first period of extra time the England players, still processing the cruelty of Yerry Mina’s headed goal, looked broken; bereft; finished. The England kit sags like chain mail in moments such as these, the weight of past failures seizing up limbs and shutting down minds. A sense of doom hung in the Moscow air while in pubs and front rooms across England fans contemplated yet another miserable ending, yet another hammer-blow to the national psyche.
The impending defeat on Tuesday evening (it was coming, it had to be coming) would be catastrophic for Gareth Southgate’s sprightly young England side precisely because things had felt so different this time around. To watch England reinvent themselves in defiance of the ghosts of the past, to watch Southgate heal their relationship with the press, and still to lose on penalties wouldn’t just shatter all that hard work. It would make heartache feel pre-determined, a fate unavoidable no matter the preparation.
Instead, pandemonium. Instead, extraordinary mental strength, not just to recover composure in the second half but to take five penalties with mind-boggling composure, to come back from 3-2 down and win it. The defining images of the night – Eric Dier’s bowed head, Jordan Pickford’s left wrist – will remain embedded in the public consciousness for a long time to come, not because beating Colombia in the second round of the World Cup is a particularly impressive achievement but because this young, hugely likeable England team have broken a curse. To cut through decades of psychological blockage is a significant breakthrough and emphatic proof that Southgate’s England really are different. It is the sort of result that could define this group of players, that makes the future – at this World Cup and beyond - seem just that little bit more open ended.
#ThreeLions 🦁🦁🦁 #ENG #WorldCup
OK, steady on. It’s only Colombia. Sweden isn’t a walkover. It probably isn’t coming home. But the sheer catharsis of Tuesday night is worth exploring. The psychological boost that comes with England’s resilient victory is emphatic and the symbolism hugely significant. Southgate has made no secret of his desire to cleanse England of its past trauma; creating a positivity and freshness, both tactically and mentally, is at the forefront of his long-term plans. Crashing out of the World Cup on penalties would have unstitched two years of hard work, but progressing in that manner draws a definitive line between his team – hungry, brave, intelligent – and those of Sven, Capello, Hodgson and the rest.
The performance may have lacked technical skill or the soothing attacking rhythms of a side destined for greatness, but in this most peculiar of World Cups that hardly matters. Colombia’s was a war of attrition, a game of shins and studs and elbows that England dealt with admirably. Harry Kane wriggled and grappled with aplomb. Harry Maguire tottered about like a fairy-tale ogre but swung his limbs heroically. Jordan Henderson stooped towards malevolence yet stayed on just the right side of the law. It was a performance of great heart, and with Sweden, Croatia, and Russia standing in the way of a first final since 1966 that’ll probably do.
Gareth Southgate’s England is now categorically, statistically separated from the past they’ve carried, ever wearily, through the last three decades. Anything could happen over the next 11 days but nevertheless the Colombia win represents a monumental rupture in the narrative and a huge step forward in Southgate’s project to reinvent the English mentality - not just for the current crop but the talented youth teams waiting in the wings. They will each suffer their own traumas, no doubt, adding another clip to the montage of tears and disappointments in an England jersey. And yet something has shifted, irreversibly. The vex has lifted; the relief felt everywhere.
