England were going home and then Harry Kane saved the day with two amazing match winning goals.
I had thought that getting through to the knock out stage would be a bonus for England because lesser opponents would not be able to park the bus. I had not factored in DR Congo scoring a deserved goal by Brian Cipenga in the 7th minute. This was a game changer that had not been written into the England script.
DR Congo are a decent side , so decent in fact that England found them very difficult to break down. Goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi was awesome. I was also impressed with Noah Sadiki ( Sunderland) and Yoane Wissa ( Newcastle) stood out for me. If Wissa can show form like that for Newcastle next season they will be a changed side.
If we are to win the world cup it has to be down to our players , not the opposition. England were predictable and not inspiring for most of the match. The same tactics on both wings was getting the same response every time. That is not to say that we didn’t have some great efforts , but they were foiled by great defending.
At this level it takes something special to win a match and that is what England did. The introduction of Gordon was the inspiration that England needed and he was involved in both goals. I had been disappointed in him up to this point in the competition but he fired up Harry Kane with the ammunition to win the game with two great goals, the second one being totally world class. That was the difference between the sides, you need something special to win at this level and we delivered.
Bring on Mexico and potentially Brazil later. If you are a football fan this is what it is all about , but personally I can do without the pain . Let’s hope that next time England can make it more enjoyable to watch. I don’t really care if we win though.
