Fans go wild as England seal dramatic penalty shootout victory
England fans went wild in Moscow as the national side powered into the next stage of the World Cup.
The sides were stuck in a 1-1 deadlock following 90 minutes leading to a stunted spell of extra time which saw frustrations boil as neither side managed to clinch the deciding goal at Spartak Stadium in the Russian capital Moscow.
The spectre of penalties returned once again as England fought to make it past the first knockout round of a competition.
Harry Kane’s penalty set the tone for an England squad who have exceeded expectations at the tournament, and teammate Eric Dier ensured the Three Lions’ place in the quarter finals, though Liverpool’s Jordan Henderson will have to live down an unfortunate save.
Superior supporter numbers counted for nothing as the Three Lions won their first knockout game since 2006 to qualify for the quarter final.
Sales through the Football Association’s Travel Club were the lowest since the Tunisia game, with 1,520 fans buying through the FA.
A further 735 were sold via the Fifa allocation so those with official tickets will make up 2,225 in total, although the numbers in the stadium were likely to be higher as a result of those who have purchased ticket from unauthorised sellers and other fans.
Meanwhile, one Colombian fan, Jaime Diaz, said he believed 50,000 of his compatriots had travelled to Russia for the World Cup.
The perception was borne out outside the stadium as well as inside for a handful of England fans who perched in a narrow corner in a bar near Spartak Stadium, totally outnumbered by Colombia supporters without tickets.
They stood for the nationals anthem and sang “please don’t take me home” and “it’s coming home” until they were drowned out by the response of “vamos Colombia”.
Jay Kumar, 55, from Northolt, west London, and his friend Johnny Rai, 59, from Hayes, west London travelled to London on Sunday without tickets.
But they refused to pay inflated ticket prices of up to 1,000 US dollars (£758) outside the stadium and so settled for the nearby Beer and Beard Bar.
And they cheered and toasted England captain Harry Kane’s goal from the penalty, which silenced the Colombian crowd.
After celebrating the shootout win, Mr Kumar said: “It’s unbelievable I don’t know what to say.
“Especially in a bar full of Colombians – I feel sorry for them.
“We could celebrate more but these guys are hurting.”
And Mr Rai added: “Brilliant and I love it.”
Asked if England can win the tournament now he replied: “We hardly won that one.
“That was tough.”
Barney Corkhill, 26, who is originally from Bath but lives in Peckham, south east London, said: “At full time I was telling people around me ‘yes we are going to win on penalties’ – I didn’t believe it.
“This World Cup I didn’t think it would come this early. I actually predicted we would get knocked out to Colombia in the last 16 so I was already worried.
“It’s coming home isn’t it?
“This round is looking very nice for us – Sweden is the best chance and then hopefully Russia get through and we play them in the semi-final.
“Russia England semi-final would be brilliant out here. I think people would be worried about coming out because of the trouble but from what I’ve seen there won’t be any trouble.
“And then we beat Brazil in the final and it’s home – it is easy.”
Brendan Collins, 30, described the match as an “emotional rollercoaster”.
“We won and to win on penalties was probably a massive boost to the ego,” Mr Collins, who is originally from Manchester but has lived in Stavropol for 18 months and Russia on and off for five years, said.
“When it went to penalties, we had a lot of people around us like hmmm.
“But it’s broken the curse now, it’s coming home.
“I think given the penalties have broken the curse of course. We’re going all the way – 2-1 in the final against France.”