The England team has been announced ahead of the game
England have named their starting line up for their round of 16 World Cup game against Colombia this evening.
Gareth Southgate’s England team come into the crucial game against the South Americans after a 1-0 defeat in their final group game against Belgium, in a match which saw both countries name weakened teams.
Ahead of the game, Southgate has announced the same side which defeated Tunisia in the country’s opening World Cup game, with Harry Kane starting up front and Raheem Sterling partnering him.
Ashley Young and Kieran Trippier are reinstated at wing-back, while Jordan Henderson replaces Eric Dier in the pivot role.
Jordan Pickford retains his place in goal, and will be hoping for a better day than against Belgium, a match which saw him criticised for his failure to prevent Adnan Januzaj from scoring the winning goal.
Gareth Southgate has confirmed #ENG will field the same starting XI against #COL as they did in their first Group G game against #TUN
Agree with the team? 🤔 #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/Mhz3yqTmcp
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 3, 2018
England have found themselves on what some perceive as the ‘weaker side’ of the draw, meaning that they will avoid the likes of Brazil until they reach the final, should they progress that far.
In light of this Southgate has urged caution among his players and fans, and insisted that the country cannot afford to get ahead of itself.
“I can see everybody is more excited but we have to think separately, otherwise we just get carried away on the wave of emotion and we would not be thinking clearly about what we have to affect. We have to control the bits we have to control. But we would be foolish to focus on longer into the tournament,” he was quoted as saying in The Guardian.
