England and the end of a trauma

England's national coach Gareth Southgate (left) and Harry Kane are just happy. (Photo: Carl Recine / Reuters)

They trained in training, penalty shooting, including the off-center race. But can you practice this? Before thousands of Colombians whistling at a world championship to score the penalty spot? You can England wins a penalty shoot-out against Colombia, is in the quarter-finals and overcomes a national trauma: the British have lost five times in a row at major tournaments.

There is energy in this English team, maybe too. The energy can be discharged in quick sprints and attacks, but also in small riots, like just before the first half, when it took a few minutes for a free kick to be carried out because that the British and the Colombians were fighting in the penalty area. One could imagine each of these Englishmen in a football cage, somewhere between tall buildings. This team is tough, wild and very talented.

It was not until Tuesday that the British met Colombians who did not like him. It was a game that was always on the edge, sometimes the referee was threatening to escape, in almost all the interruptions that they were discussing and attacking, fighting and falling.

This English horde is led by Harry Kane. Kane, this icebreaker footballer who went through the Colombian defense for 120 minutes, blaming him for believing that he was going to chew. Kane was always playable, back to the goal, he distributed the balls to the other players, brought them also in the middle of the field. In the 57th minute, he hit a penalty kick, he had himself pulled out, Carlos Sanchez could only stop him by jumping on the attacker. Kane has already scored six goals in this tournament.

And for a long time, it seemed like Kanes Tor was the only one left. The English had already won this match – in fact. But then, in the third minute of stopping play, Colombian Yerry Mina went home, it was probably the last kick of the match, and he took advantage of it. Before that, the English goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had repelled a shot from Mateus Uribe to see. 1: 1 – extension. It was anxious minutes for the English, then shots on goal. Kane was the first to arrive – he hit. The rest was then a trauma therapy in English.