Sterling’s value still in question
The old habits are supposed to be the hardest to kick.
A day that began with England’s biggest newspaper getting its kicks by taking digs at the symbol of Colombia’s tragic past ended with Gareth Southgate’s team burying the ghosts of their own past.
Just as the nation’s tabloids prepped their presses for another inquest as England threw away a quarter-final place at this wide open World Cup, Southgate’s young side said no.
Not this time. Not us. We’re not like the rest.
The rest lost every penalty shootout in their World Cup history. But these lions are nerveless and after 120 fractious minutes held their heads when it mattered. So while the same old hype train will now pick up even greater steam, this looks a team capable of ignoring it all.
Raheem Sterling was speared by the country’s biggest tabloid pre-tournament when photographs emerged of a fresh tattoo of an automatic weapon, running the length of his calf.
‘Raheem shoots himself in the foot’ their front page screamed, slamming the winger for glorifying gun violence.
Exactly five weeks to the day, The Sun used that same space yesterday morning to crack a cocaine joke, opting to poke Colombia about the substance that largely fuelled a national conflict that claimed 220,000 lives.
As has been more often the case than not in the past five years, the merits of Sterling’s place in the team were debated heavily in the build-up.
Southgate has grown weary of not just that line of questioning but the constant sniping and scrutiny of Sterling’s life, professional and private.
“I have wondered why there has been such a focus on his position in the team and not others,” he said on Monday.
“But that’s just the way it has been.”
While many have argued — convincingly so — that the off-field focus has a lot to do with the fact that Sterling has the gall to be young, gifted, rich and black, the questioning of his on-field endeavours can be based on more tangible issues.
Whether as a Liverpool or Manchester City call-up, he has largely struggled to reproduce his club form on the international stage. His game is not built on goals of course, but they are a significant part of it, hitting double figures in five straight seasons.
For England he has just two in 40 games arriving here on a dry spell that stretched back three years.
Even as England lit those tabloid fires in two much-too- handy opening games here, Sterling was at best fitful, at worst ill-fitting.
He was hauled off shortly after the hour against Tunisia and in spite of the baseball score run up against a Panamanian team who looked as though that was their preferred pursuit, Sterling hadn’t made an imprint.
With Marcus Rashford particularly and Jamie Vardy breathing heavily down his neck, the 23-year-old pitched up at the Spartak Stadium as a man in need of a game.
In the early stages he was the one who took it to Colombia. If England were quick out of the blocks, Sterling was their pacesetter.
His pace won two corners and a free-kick for England but two shooting chances were driven straight at defenders. This is the England version of Sterling: three flashes of light and then an unexpected dimmer.
Colombian nerves still jingled when he bore down on them, a blistering run on 31 minutes his highlight. But as all nerves frayed, those moves dried up.
Foreshadowing the moronic moments that were to come, one of Jose Pekerman’s backroom team was seen on camera trying to shoulder Sterling as he came off at the interval.
This tournament just never fails to amaze, does it? #COLENG // #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/pNbSDTj59Z
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 3, 2018
The contest got away from almost everyone from there. Colombian heads were lost before being found in the last five minutes and again in extra-time.
English heads had stayed steady for so long, none more assured than John Stones, supreme at the back. But they would lose concentration when it mattered too.
A fractious, fragmented contest should be the kind of one Sterling grabs by the neck.
He never did but thanks to Colombian stupidity and his captain’s steely nerves, England led as he again made way for Vardy with just two minutes remaining.
He had been energetic but never truly electrifying. Southgate and co. were headed for a quarter-final and the tabloids would have enough to sing about without riffing on him.
Then he saw it all disappear. A penny for his thoughts as penalties beckoned.
But habits are there to be lost. England kicked theirs and now kick on.
Three key moments
For reasons best known to no-one, referee Mark Geiger is something of a FIFA darling.
But with things already beginning to get niggly, he flashed a yellow card to Wilmar Barrios for nodding Jordan Henderson in the chest on 41 minutes.
It should arguably have been a red or nothing.
Players from both teams surrounded Geiger and he showed no ability to control either set or arrange the wall for the subsequent free-kick.
With Colombians doing themselves and the official no favours, he lost the contest entirely in an embarrassing second half.
That wobbly wall would turn out to be the foundation for a collapse from the man in the middle.
6️⃣ goals in this #WorldCup already for @HKane... 👏#threelions pic.twitter.com/9j7mnGDB2w
— England (@England) July 3, 2018
Whatever about Carlos Sanchez’s utter idiocy in wrestling and all but mounting England’s skipper to the ground, Kane’s composure over the next three minutes was as impressive as anything else he has served up at this World Cup.
That was how long passed between the penalty being given and Kane running up to take it.
In what amounted to an away game atmosphere and with all around him losing theirs, Kane kept his head and racked up his sixth goal of a storming World Cup.
A memo to Sweden’s central defenders: Maybe don’t get into a grappling match with him.
Jordan Pickford had just made one of the saves of this or any World Cup as he sprawled all the way across his goal to reach again and tip substitute Mateus Uribe’s swirling, stinging drive out for a corner.
England were minutes from heading onwards for a date with the Swedes, just one more set piece to clear.
However, as Colombia swarmed the box, Yerry Mina soared between red shirts and powered a head down into the ground.
Kieran Trippier on the line couldn’t keep it out and the Spartak Stadium erupted.
And as extra time failed to separate the teams, England still found a way to silence the place one last time, prevailing 4-3 on penalties.
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