Eric Dier has said he felt he had to score his penalty in England’s shootout victory over Colombia after missing a chance to win the game in extra-time.
The Tottenham midfielder replaced Dele All in normal time to add more stability in midfield when England were 1-0 up, but Colombia equalised from a corner in stoppage time.
Both sides limped through extra-time, although Dier was provided with a great chance to win the game, heading a corner over the bar from close range.
The 24-year-old eventually redeemed himself by scoring the final spot-kick in the shootout and sending England into the quarter-finals.
And Dier says he was thankful for the opportunity to take his penalty after missing the earlier chance.
“I felt like I had to score after that header I missed at the end there. I’m thankful I scored that.” Dier said after the game on ITV (via the Independent). “I’ve never really been in the situation before.
“To get knocked down at the end like we did with that goal in added time, it’s difficult to come back from that but we were ready for that we knew what we had to do we stuck to our plan we never panic all the way through extra time and we knew if it has to go to penalties then it has to go to penalties, and we were ready for that.”
Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, who missed his penalty in the shootout, has been preferred to Dier in three of England’s four World Cup games.
That’s likely to continue in the quarter-final against Sweden, despite Dier’s heroics from the spot.
