Colombia and England Meet in Final Round of 16 Game
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The final match of the 2018 World Cup Round of 16 games will take place on Tuesday night in Moscow as Colombia and England meet.
Colombia have never won the World Cup and the furthest they have even been is the quarter-final, which they achieved four years ago. England won the World Cup on home soil in 1966 and reached the semi-final in 1990 but have struggled in recent tournaments.
Which team will come out on top at the Otkritie Arena?
Colombia were draw in Group H along with Poland, Senegal and Japan. The Poles and Senegal were tipped as the biggest threat but Japan emerged as potential contenders when they defeat Colombia 2-1 in the first game of the group.
Colombia went down to ten men and conceded an early penalty but battled back to level 1-1 at half-time. Tiredness crept in and Japan scored their second goal to register an upset win.
The Colombian players bounced back in style in their second match, defeating Poland 3-0. Colombia played good attacking football and scored 3 good goals to take maximum points. In the final match of the group, Colombia defeated Senegal 1-0 to win the group. It was not the greatest game but Colombia kept Senegal at arm’s length to take maximum points.
England began their campaign with a last minute winner against Tunisia. The Three Lions looked good going forward in the first half but conceded a penalty which allowed Tunisia to equalise. Harry Kane struck late on to save England’s blushes.
There was no such problem in the next game as England brushed aside Panama 6-1. The defending was awful and Panama produced arguably the worst performance of any team in the tournament but England took full advantage to record a memorable win.
With a place in the Round of 16 secure, England rotated their team against Belgium and in terms of the result, the move back fired as they lost the game 1-0. However, England may feel the result worked in their favour in the long term, if they can win this match.
Looking ahead to the team news and Colombia are sweating on the fitness of James Rodriguez. The Bayern Munich midfielder went off in the first half against Senegal and Colombia will give him until the last minute to prove his fitness. Otherwise, they are set to be unchanged from their last match.
England will bring back several players who were rested against Belgium. Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Jesse Lingard, Ashley Young, Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker should all return to the starting XI although Ruben Loftus-Cheek will hope to keep his place in the team.
This is a tough game to predict, with both teams capable of producing good football but also looking vulnerable. Do not be surprised to see this one end level with both teams scoring and the possibility of a penalty shootout at the end of extra time.
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