England's forward Harry Kane gestures during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. (Photo by YURI CORTEZ / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - NO MOBILE PUSH ALERTS/DOWNLOADS (Photo credit should read YURI CORTEZ/AFP/Getty Images)
England has broken the deadlock.
Carlos Sanchez, who has already made one massive error in the tournament, bulldozed Harry Kane in the box to award a penalty to England. Sanchez was sent off in Colombia’s opener against Japan after a handball prevented a scoring chance. After Sanchez dragged Kane, referee Mark Geiger immediately pointed to the penalty spot.
As he does, Kane stepped up and buried his take. Here’s the initial highlight.
Cool as you like!
Harry Kane draws the penalty and buries it to put England up 1-0 on Colombia.
YES HARRY KANE 😍😍😍😍😍 this man needs a knighthood 👌🏻👌🏻 #ENGCOL
It was a tense meeting between England and Colombia, two of the outside contenders at this year’s World Cup. It was a physical first half, with heavy contact on both sides.
To add to the drama, there were reports of an altercation between the teams in the pre-match tunnel.
It’s hard enough for Colombia, who are playing without third all-time leading scorer James Rodriguez. James, who won the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup, has been dealing with a calf injury throughout the tournament and was unavailable for Tuesday’s match.
Look at the scenes back in England:
It’s a big goal for England, who haven’t reached the quarterfinals of a World Cup since 2006. England are on the weaker side of the bracket, and a win over Colombia would put them just two wins away from the final with only Sweden, Russia and Croatia in their way.