England fans exploded at Flat Iron Square in London while England outweighed Colombia in the penalty shoot-outs for the quarter-finals of the World Cup. English manager Gareth Southgate said his shootout win over Colombia at the World Cup on Tuesday will give the team "the belief that generations will follow".
Returned by a Colombian equalizer, England was forced to the spot, where they had lost in their previous three attempts to the World Cup and six out of seven in the major tournaments.
And Southgate, who missed the decisive penalty against Germany who saw England eliminated in the semifinals of Euro 96 the result in Moscow was a turning point for the Three Lions – and the country.
"We have fantastic supporters who have had to stand with us for decades of disappointment and it was a very special moment for our country." I said. "Today, there will be generations to follow so as not to be bothered by history or expectations." The players really did it all [in the shootout] which we talked about exceptionally well and we showed incredible resilience to come back from a great disappointment at the final whistle and keep our cool. It's a special moment for us.
Goalkeeper Jordan Pickford spoke about the search for criminal trends in Colombia, and Southgate credited the 24-year-old and his team for seeing them. "We talked a lot about the ownership of the process, and they kept their calm – a great honor for all our staff and the players who took care of everything, and we received our reward today.
The goalkeeper is very important in this regard.
And although his counterpart Jose Pekerman accused the English players of fake fouls, Southgate congratulated his team for largely avoiding reactions to a team. The fiery game that saw 36 fouls and Colombia has booked six times to both English.
"We are becoming smarter, and perhaps played by the same rules as the rest of the world," said Southgate. "But we kept our dignity and our sportsmanship and if we were down it was because we were fouled I'm proud of the discipline."
Southgate also said that he was not surprised by the physical approach of South Americans. "I do not know if I did not expect it but we did not go there, which was great," he told ITV. "Sometimes we lost a bit of composure, but in general we kept our cool."
Then, a quarter-final against Sweden and Southgate promised to keep moving forward for fans heading to Russia.
"Our fans were brilliant, but it was almost an outside match, so dealing with it was exceptional," he said. "It's something that players can always look back at now and get inspired.
" We talked about creating their own stories and creating their own story and we did a little bit tonight. We move to a quarter-final, but I do not want to go home.