England immediately puts the spotlight on the shock of Sweden's World Cup as Gareth Southgate's composure flirts with players

Barely an hour after the end of one of England's most spectacular nights, Gareth Southgate began to take an interest in what was to follow.

Yet another meticulous measure of attention to detail helped England to qualify for the quarter-finals and defeat a Colombian team determined to push them into the traps of the past.

In the midst of a maelstrom of South American malevolence in Moscow, Southgate was the image of calm all evening. of self-assurance and composure, and only lowering his guard briefly to embrace the euphoria of Eric Dier's winning penalty, a release that he felt more vividly than most, considering his own shootings trauma

were going to pass the line, "he said. "I just thought we had the resilience and belief to get past the line, whatever was going to happen."

If only he had told us the rest of us. Southgate England seemed turned to sabotage for decades of tournament phobias in a knockout match: arbitration controversy, late goal sorrow, overtime breaches in overtime and, of course, penalties.

could have consumed his players at the end of overtime, re-stuck after 90 minutes by the head of Yerry Mina and unable to reaffirm significant control thereafter.

Southgate worked deliberately, but without excessive concern, among his team, galvanized by the infallible confidence in the methodology that brought them to this point and would give them the best chance of succeeding where so many teams would. England failed.

Shootouts They are capricious by their nature, but Southgate has engendered a self-confidence that has persisted through the lack of Jordan Henderson, four well-struck penalties and a superb rescue by Jordan Pickford

He became the first goalkeeper in England to save a penalty in a shootout for 20 years. England won its first World Cup shootout, continuing the remarkable journey that this young team is undertaking, redefining the national team as both uninhibited and more capable than many imagined.

Yet, rather than thinking about the distance traveled, Southgate voluntarily began discussing the next hurdle to come: Sweden at Samara Saturday

"We talked a lot about [the players] creating their own story and I think that they really bought everything we tried to do, "he said. "The calm that they showed in their game in a big match under pressure was really impressive.For them, it was really a great moment and we want to take advantage of it now."

"I'm already thinking of next match. I would like to spend a week, but we do not have it. Sweden is a team that I respect enormously. We do not have a good record against them and I think we have always underestimated them.

"They have good players and a clear way to play, which is very difficult to play.They are more than the sum of their parts, more often than not." So, it's a extremely difficult game for us because at the moment we are as high as a kite.We have to recover, but it's a great game for us. "

Southgate pointed out the draining effect of their efforts here by comparing the locker room of England at the end of a scene from the 1970s American TV series M * A * S * H, put in a field hospital during the Korean War. Dele Alli later learned of this reference and admitted that he had no idea what Southgate was on the subject. It's a different generation, remember.

Alli seemed short of his best but insisted that the match sharpness was no problem, missing the last two group games of England with a thigh injury . Kyle Walker clutched out during the overtime, while Harry Kane was among others showing signs of wear. Samara will be a ruthless ruler, with temperatures reaching more than 35C in recent days. A local kickoff at 6 pm will do little more than take the edge.

Yet, England can rise to this challenge with nascent optimism after banishing so many demons here. They will need to adapt to different conditions – just as they did against Panama in Volgograd – but adaptability turns out to be one of the strengths of the country. 39; England.

They continue to be one of the most VAR-savvy teams here. Conversations between players and officials began in the first 10 minutes while Carlos Sanchez debated with Kane in the penalty area

US referee Mark Geiger was slow to eradicate bad discipline and Colombia played the role of stray children to perfection, seeing where they could push their luck . Kane was finally seen inflicting a penalty in the 57th minute, which he shipped for his sixth goal of the tournament, but not until Johan Mojica tried to catch up.

England was not a saint. Harry Maguire and Jesse Lingard fell into the box under frail challenges, but if England were to be dragged into a street fight, their subterfuge was only a footnote down. from page to provocation that they had to face. A Russian journalist did not see it like that. "They fall every time the wind blows," he told Southgate.

"Maybe we're getting a little smarter," Southgate replied. "Maybe we're playing part of our game now according to the rules the rest of the world plays, but I think we've also kept our dignity, our sportsmanship."

England is fast becoming Incarnation of his manager: intelligent and composed. The most exciting part is that we still do not know where it can go.