Eric Dier scored the winning penalty for England in their shootout against Colombia on Tuesday night.
Jordan Pickford’s acrobatic save from Carlos Bacca’s effort, and Mateus Uribe’s missed penalty, put Dier in the position to win the tie for his country.
The Tottenham midfielder saw his spot-kick sneak under David Ospina, who managed to get a glove on the shot, to make it 4-3 to England on penalties and take them through to the quarter-finals of the World Cup, where they will play Sweden on Saturday afternoon.
Dier’s winning kick also more than made up for his poor display during the match. He came on for Dele Alli in the 81st minute as England looked to protect their lead. However, that plan went out the window after Yerra Mina equalised in stoppage time with a powerful header from Colombia’s first corner of the night.
In extra-time, England, who were the better side in normal time, looked rattled and some players began to tire, which was understandable after an exhausting 90-minutes and a long season.
Dier, however, just looked off the pace. He misplaced passes, struggled to cope with the physicality of the Colombians and missed a great chance when he headed over.
The Tottenham midfielder carried his form from England’s previous match against Belgium into the game against Colombia and appears unlikely to start against Sweden on Saturday.
After he misplaced one pass, RTE commentator George Hamilton summed-up Dier’s performance to that point, saying, “Dier by name, dire by nature.”
"Dier by name, Dier by nature" – George Hamilton dropping truth bombs about Eric Dier on RTE 😂#worldcup #ENGCOL
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) July 3, 2018
A George Hamilton gem "Dier by name, dire by nature" 😂😂 #COLENG #RTEsoccer
— Seánie Ó Leidhinn (@Seanie_11) July 3, 2018
Dier by name… George Hamilton, a great commentator.
— BL (@BillLahart) July 3, 2018
George Hamilton ' Dier by name dire by nature ' 😄😄😄😄😄
— Barry O'Sullivan 19 🏆 6🏆 (@BarryOsully) July 3, 2018
Dier put his underwhelming display behind him though to score the decisive spot-kick.
It was the first time England won a penalty shootout the World Cup, and the first shootout that they have won since beating Spain at Wembley in the quarter-finals of Euro ’96.
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