“I had no idea”: Eric Dier makes confession about penalty for England vs Colombia

Eric Dier has admitted he had no idea he was in line to take a penalty for England against Colombia.

The midfielder scored the decisive spot-kick as England edged past Colombia in a dramatic penalty shootout victory, securing the Three Lions’ place in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

Dier was introduced as a substitute in normal time, replacing his Tottenham teammate Dele Alli who appeared to still be struggling with a slight injury.

England failed to hold onto their 1-0 lead, conceding an equaliser in stoppage time.

The game eventually went to penalties, and Dier stepped up to send England through after Jordan Pickford’s heroics.

And the Spurs star has revealed he didn’t know he was set to take a spot-kick.

“No, I had no idea. We were hoping it didn’t go to penalties!” said Dier, according to the Mirror.

“I didn’t know the order until the manager came. The manager didn’t tell us the order before the game. Obviously, with substitutions, the order can change, so after extra-time he just told me that I was number five.

“It’s a strange one. Obviously you don’t do it very often so it’s a bit weird, but it was okay.

“At the time, I don’t really know what I was thinking about [walking up to take the penalty], to be honest. While you’re waiting to take it it’s nerve-wracking but, once I walked up, when I was going to take it, I was quite calm to be honest.

“I was very nervous while standing waiting but once I walked up there, I was alright. I knew where I was going to put it.”

There had been talk that Jamie Vardy was in line to take one of the first five penalties, but an injury the Leicester striker picked up during extra-time saw Dier move up the pecking order.

It all worked out in the end, although Dier is expected to remain on the bench for England’s quarter-final clash with Sweden on Saturday.