For now, at least, football is still coming home.

Yesterday’s early kick-off saw the Swedes defeat the Swiss 1-0 in a rather dour affair, but it was the late game that provided the thrills and spills.

Even if you don’t support the Three Lions, and went into the match hoping for a British capitulation, it was very difficult to get behind Colombia.

That’s largely due to the fact that they went out with the intent to get under the English players’ skin. With tensions having threatened to boil over towards the end of the first half, this happened as Sterling jogged off for the break.

Eduardo Urtasun, one of Colombia’s assistant coaches, involved here:

Then there was the penalty awarded to England after a foul on Harry Kane, when Colombian player Johan Mojica started kicking divots into the turf.

This is so far removed from the spirit of the game, but that’s the win at any cost attitude they displayed right from kick-off:

The yellows came thick and fast:

With the final whistle looming, we almost witnessed the goal of the tournament from Uribe:

O chutaço do Uribe que gerou o escanteio para o gol do Mina #COL 1⃣✖️1⃣ #ENG #Copa2018 #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/SWNoUzskVF

— gifsdacopa (@gifsdacopa) July 3, 2018

Only an incredible save from Pickford denied him:

Of course, Colombia scored from the corner, and the English were left stunned:

They would have to wait for a fantastic Jordan Pickford save, followed by a cool Eric Dier slotting home, to really let loose:

Makes the celebrations after Harry Kane’s late winner in the opener seem pretty tame.

If you missed any of the highlights, this will do the trick:

Spare a thought for this poor chap, who couldn’t celebrate much, having to do his job with the drama unfolding offscreen:

How my friend @BBCRosAtkins just managed to cover England’s World Cup match victory live on @bbcworld without breaking a single contract #YouAreLookingLiveAtJournalistsCheering pic.twitter.com/S63QPIJzmT

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 3, 2018

Pickford’s a popular character around the English camp right now:

If this picture doesn’t make sense to you, this video should help:

The English fans are dreaming big:

@Baddiel Shoreditch High St blocked to traffic due to spontaneous rendition of Three Lions pic.twitter.com/W76Qd1QxoL

— Dan Onymous (@Aurelius) July 3, 2018

On the flipside, Colombia are going home, and that will fill their footballers with a sense of dread.

This from the Daily Mail:

Colombians urged calm last night after the two players who missed penalties against England suffered insults and threats from furious fans on social media.

Vile messages targeting Mateus Uribe and Carlos Bacca started to appear within minutes of Colombia being knocked out of the World Cup following the dramatic shoot-out.

Uribe’s penalty hit the crossbar while Bacca’s attempt was saved by hero England goalkeeper Pickford.

The posts, mostly aimed at Bacca who fans thought took the worse penalty, warned the players they were ‘dead’, urged them to kill themselves and told them not to return to the South American country.

A reminder that Andres Escobar scored an own goal for Colombia at the 1994 World Cup, which led to the team being eliminated, and was shot dead when he returned home.

That’s Escobar’s gaffe above, and the statue that now stands in his hometown in remembrance below:

If England do manage to do the unthinkable and go all the way, expect statues of Harry and the boys to spring up across the country.

[source:dailymail]