4. Columbia were competitive but lacked discipline
The contrast between this game and England’s 1-0 defeat to Belgium in their final Group G fixture could not have been more stark in the first 30 minutes.
The suspicion last Thursday was the Three Lions were not too disappointed to lose that game and finish in second to take their place in the ‘easier’ half of the draw. On the evidence of this that was pretty close to the nail.
Southgate’s side were back to their best while Colombia pressed aggressively in the midfield, trying to force Henderson, Alli and co. into errors.
Trailing 1-0 the South Americans should have been focusing all their energies on finding an equaliser. Yet for much of the second half they committed more effort to try to disrupt England and the flow of the game.
As tactics go it isn’t the most aesthetically pleasing but it’s a legitimate approach – for lesser nations. This Colombia side possesses no lack of quality and even with star man James Rodríguez cheerleading from the stands (above) thanks to injury they had more than enough quality to make a game of it.
Above all it was a shame to see when the game had promised so much. Colombia had grown into the group stages with Radamel Falcao making up for missing out in 2014 with injury, supplemented by the guile and craft of Juan Quintero and Rodríguez behind him.