Another Thriller on Our Hands... But Who Really Won Tonight?

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Another day, another spectacle. First off, things started out with a bit of a whimper as Sweden took on Switzerland with neither team able to pull off much of anything. A Swedish limp through to the next round for them then. But the real highlight of the day was yet to come. Oh yes, England came through in the end with a tight victory against Colombia and as you can imagine, the streets are now clamouring with cheers of joy and adulation for their winning team. But upon closer inspection, who really beat who?

Well, my humble opinion in regards to the outcome? Colombia beat Colombia. Yes, you heard right. A win and loss against themselves in one. How is that possible? Simple. With their atrocious play in the first half. I have no idea what came over them. Aggressive, pushy and abusive. That just about sums up the behaviour of the Colombians in the first half. I mean, that headbutt by Wilmar Barrios. I think it's safe to say, he was extremely lucky to escape with only a yellow card. But worse was to yet to come. A completely unnecessary penalty, literally handed to the England team, courtesy of Carlos Sanchez. Bringing down England captain Harry Kane right in front of the referee. In fact, there were so many illegal acts being conducted by them n the pitch, I gave up counting at the halfway mark. Yes, Colombia indeed lost much respect from me as a national football team today.

But, somehow in the closing stages of the second half, they learned to "play football" again and ran rings around the English defence, to finally score in the last minute. It was a goal produced out of the blue. In short, England were being embarrassingly outmatched and outplayed. Had it not been for that penalty as well as the ridiculous antics from the Colombian side, "they'd" be the ones cheering victorious tonight.

And things only got worse for England in the first half of extra time. They should consider themselves lucky for not getting another couple of goals scored against them. Hanging on by the skin of their teeth, they made it through to the next half. And out of sheer desperation, managed to up their game a little and hold out towards the end for a penalty shoot-out. Which, let's be fair, could have gone either way. But it was clear to see that under pressure, England just don't have the goods to deliver when it's needed. So going forward, it should be very interesting. Chances of them beating Sweden? Fair to average I'd say. We'll have to wait and see. But after that, with the threat of Russia or Croatia hanging over them? I'd happily wager money on their World Cup campaign ending right there.

But look at me being the old misery guts? Lol, I do apologise, but at the same time refuse to get swept up in the pulsating euphoria this country is experiencing. Good job, England. The semi's maybe now be closer than we ever thought possible.

Oh, and one last thing. My prediction for the winners of the World Cup 2018?

France... :)

Hope you enjoyed this post, please look out for more on the way... (author: @ezzy)

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