Jordan Pickford only had 3 caps before the 2018 World Cup, and now he is the hero of England

Jordan Pickford was not supposed to be a World Cup hero so early. Just over a year ago, he thought he was third or fourth for the # 1 English jersey.

Upon entering this World Cup, England was facing a guardian crisis of purpose. Joe Hart, the long-time starter, was just not good for West Ham last season. The Southgate manager Gareth made the brave and certainly correct decision to drop him, but the other options of England in net all have question marks too. Fraser Forster has not been the same since his serious knee injury in 2015. Jack Butland was not responsible for relegating Stoke, but he did not experience his best year either. Nick Pope has had a wonderful campaign with Burnley, but has no international experience.

Almost by default, work went to Pickford, which had a roller coaster for Everton. The Toffees stammered en route to eighth, and Pickford made some high-level mistakes in his first season with the club. And at 6 "1", Pickford is more prone to being bullied by big opponents in the box, but he still got positive reviews from Everton fans, he wins more balls than what is expected of a man of his size, and he is almost considered the right choice for the Three Lions.

Guardian is a position that haunts England in its past There has been David James' excitement against Austria in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup, even though the Three Lions have finally qualified.There is Paul's mistake Robinson in Croatia and the error of Scott Carson against the Croats in London who together prevented England from qualifying for Euro 2008. There is the mistake of Rob Green against the USMNT at the 2010 World Cup. And then there is Hart, who was the main responsible for the release of England against the Euro 2016. [19659005] Up to now, Pickford has avoided making big mistakes and made incredible jumps.

Let's hope that Pickford's first heroic act will not be forgotten. We have never been able to watch a replay during the live broadcast because Colombia scored a goal in the corner that followed, 10 seconds later. But if the match ended in the regular time, his deciding moment would have been this incredible stoppage of Pickford on a rocket from a Santiago Arias shot.

In the shooting, it came huge when England needed it badly. Jordan Henderson had missed his kick, and England was down. If Colombia scored all its remaining penalties, it would have been in the quarter-finals. Instead, they come home because Pickford did that.

Pickford teammates recognized how dramatic the rescue was. After Eric Dier converted the penalty, the English players rushed to Mob and took over Pickford, not Dier

Photo of Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images

Thanks to Pickford, England won its first penalty shoot-out at the World Cup in its history. They killed the demons of their manager Gareth Southgate and Euro & # 39; 96. And to think, it was a position where the Three Lions thought that they could have another crisis. Maybe Pickford can break their curse.