England fans, media lose their minds after national team wins penalty shootout thriller over Colombia
England advanced to the World Cup quarterfinals Tuesday in the most dramatic way conceivable.
Eric Dier squeaked a clinching penalty kick past the outstretched hands of Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina that came on the heels of 30 minutes of scoreless extra time that was only necessary when Colombia tied the game at 1-1 with a stoppage-time goal.
Ospina gets a hand to it, but Dier sends England through to the quarterfinals! pic.twitter.com/nWdwfkoGeJ
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 3, 2018
The win set up a quarterfinal match with Sweden on Saturday and ended a six-game streak of penalty-shootout losses for England in major international competition dating back to 1990.
Needless to say, fans back home were amped.
WATCH: Fans in London celebrate the moment #England beats #Colombia to advance to the #WorldCup quarter-finals pic.twitter.com/FpRS9cWbMx
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) July 3, 2018
AND WE’RE THROUGHHHHHHH!!! #worldcup #worldcup2018 #COLENG pic.twitter.com/t5wcG2Wrh5
— BoxparkCroydon (@BoxparkCroydon) July 3, 2018
Dance parties ensued.
Lets do it again…#Englands on your defence is terrified!! #itscominghome #worldcup #england pic.twitter.com/WkXzIqnPSC
— UFF – Ultimate Football Fan (@ULTFootballFan) July 3, 2018
Former players turned broadcasters did not attempt to hide their emotions.
Happy? pic.twitter.com/JxQPLpIevj
— Lee Dixon (@LeeDixon2) July 3, 2018
That’s Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Lee Dixon (right to left) — all former England players — celebrating Dier’s goal on a studio set of British broadcaster ITV.
The BBC newsroom was similarly stoked.
The moment England won the penalty shootouts and the @BBCNews newsroom exploded – as captured by #BBCOS. #ENGvCOL pic.twitter.com/1VARzMFMmb
— Seref Isler (@seref_i) July 3, 2018
The gloriously cheesy “Three Lions” anthem was blasted in the clubs.
The scenes from @BoxparkCroydon when Dier scored that penalty! pic.twitter.com/GTyf8zn3Uc
— Coral (@Coral) July 3, 2018
And sung in the streets.
FOOTBALLS COMING HOME, ITS COMING HOMEEEE! Central London is lit #worldcup pic.twitter.com/sMDHMulir2
— RACH-L ✞ (@TheeGoGetta_) July 3, 2018
And drowned out local news reports.
@chris_kammy trying to do a live interview on Sky Sports News in a pub full of England fans celebrating is pic.twitter.com/LuHfBDA4mU
— Soccer AM (@SoccerAM) July 3, 2018
If you’ve not become familiar with “Three Lions,” here’s the video of the anthem that was released in 1996 for the European Championships and has gained new life during the World Cup.
It’s reminiscent of another corny yet infectious song that was blasted stateside when a similarly tortured baseball team won the World Series in 2016.
If England keeps advancing, we’re all bound to come familiar with it.
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