0-2. England returns to a semi-final 28 years later

Samara (Russia), July 7 – Two goals from Harry Maguire and Dele Alli were used to do so, twenty-six years later, England will return to compete in a semifinal of a World Cup after defeating that Saturday in the quarterfinals at Sweden (0-2 ), in Samara, where the team of "Three Lions" "was reunited with his story."

England world champion in 1966, almost always a candidate for everything and has no right to anything, came back, perhaps at the least expected time, with a very young and inexperienced team, l & rsquo; Elite of world football. And next Wednesday, he will play, at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow the same that will host the decisive match on July 15, the semifinal against the winner of Russia-Croatia.

Football returns home ("Football returns home"). As it was said in the anthem Eurocup 96, that England staged with the lean booty of a semifinal in which he fell to the. Germany, on penalties. Gareth Southgate, who missed his decisive blow, has absolutely redeemed from this mistake what he has already done, thanks to a group to improve.

Without practicing spectacular football, he beat the sober compact Sweden; unleashed delirium in in England where the beer flows in some "pubs" whose televisions will reproduce the black and white images of Bobby Moore one thousand and one times, 52 years ago , the Jules Rimet Trophy, in Wembley

Emil Krafth, for the sanctioned Mikael Lustig, and Sebastian Larsson, back after their match of penalty against Switzerland in the second round (1-0), were the novelties of Sweden, with his pair of power stations, Victor Lindelöf and Captain Andreas Granqvist, a medullary line of four; and his two usual points, Marcus Berg and Ola Toivonen.

Southgate repeated the eleven that he drew against Colombia, eliminated on penalties: Ian Walker, John Stones and Harry Maguire forming a trio of powerhouses; with Kieran Trippier and Ashley Young of lanes; midfielder for Jordan Henderson, Dele Alli and Jesse Lingard; and Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane, top scorer of the tournament, in attack.

This is Kane, the lighthouse of Mauricio Pochettino Tottenham, who launched the first (shy) warning on 18 with a shot that came out to the right of Olsen's goal. In a not spectacular first act in which England was the most proposed, to get ahead of the half-hour, thanks to a great testarazo of the "giant" Maguire (1.93 meters) ) that he made a test of his own aerial game syrup for the Swedes after a corner of the left thrown by Young.

Sweden barely contributed to a center shot from Forsberg's left, his most creative player. shortly before Sterling, three times – one of them was invalidated by an offside – put the Nordic behind him. In the clearest, Olsen got his hands on the gold shortly after Lindelöf disrupted the action of the Manchester City striker.

Lindelöf, who has been evolving since last year in the other team of Manchester, United, He was born the same day that Brazil "pentacampeona" celebrated the fourth title, after the penalties and against the Italy, in the United States World Cup in 1994. In which Sweden, finalist at home in 1958, celebrated its best result in this tournament, finishing at a meritorious third place.

Exactly 24 years after his last semifinal, Sweden, first in the group in which Mexico finished second and the last champion, Germany, returned home; after the elimination of Switzerland, it also had a golden opportunity to reconnect with its history.

Still improving in the second part of this tournament where he had scored five of his six goals, Janne Andersson's men of his best luck from the resumption of the game, in a Berg head that shone Pickford, the hero of Colombia.

But far from retreating and speculating, England who had played his last semi-final of the World Cup in Italy in 1990, had not intended to him give the privilege to access the penultimate match against his rival. A perfect center of Lingard, in the 59, he served so that Dele Alli, again head, batiese for the second time at Olsen .

Sweden reacted, but Pickford – that before the world had only defended three times, in friendly matches, the English goal gave reason to Gareth Southgate, who was counting on him, diverting an obvious chance of Claesson.

Andersson gave the entry in 65 to John Guidetti, Alaves and Olsson, for Toivonen and Forsberg, respectively. Six minutes later, Guidetti gave Berg a gold ball, which served for a new burst of goalkeeper Everton, said "Man of the Match"

that's all. England endured the result, his fans sang several times the "God Save the Queen". and Samara Arena fired the new semifinalists with the music of "The Lightening Seeds", one of three lions on the shirt before the Beatles' All you need is Love & # 39; 39; be played on the sound system. England famous: football returned home

– Technical specifications:

0; Sweden Olsen; Krafth (M85, Jansson), Lindeloff, Granqvist, Augustinsson; Claesson, Ekdal, Larsson, Forsberg (M 65, Olsson); Berg and Toivonen (m 65, Guidetti).

Coach: Janne Andersson.

2; England : Pickford; Trippier, Walker, Stones, Maguire, Young; Lingard, Henderson (m. 85, Dier), Delle Ali (m. 77, Delph); Sterling (m.90 + 1, Rashford) and Kane

Coach: Gareth Soutgate

Arbitrator: Björn Kuipers (HOL). Shown the yellow card in the Swedish Guidetti (m.88)

Incidents: Match corresponding to the quarter-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia played at the arena of Samara in front of 39,991 spectators .