The coach rather said his team was just not good enough to beat their opponents, England, stating that his players tried their best “to even reach the competition’s last eight stage”.
Browsing: England
England now move on to a last-four date with either Russia or Croatia, who meet in the remaining quarter-final clash later on Saturday
England have not reached the last eight of the World Cup since 2006, where defeat by Portugal on penalties in Germany marked the start of a period of underachievement.
After the scores were locked at 1-1, England won their first penalty shootout at a major tournament in 22 years to set up a quarterfinal clash against Sweden.
Andersson’s men are aiming to reach the last four for the first time since 1994 when they finished third in the United States.
However, as they face a quarter-final clash with Sweden on Saturday, manager Gareth Southgate says this generation might not get a better chance to triumph.
Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning captain claimed Colombia suffered a “monumental robbery” in the last-16 tie on Tuesday after England were awarded a penalty for a foul on Harry Kane.
“Following comments made by Diego Armando Maradona…FIFA strongly rebukes the criticism of the performance of the match officials which it considers to have been positive in a tough and highly emotional match,” said the global soccer body in a statement.
The South American side finished top of Group H after recovering from an opening-game defeat, only to then come unstuck at the first knockout-stage hurdle.
This is after displaying the best of their battling qualities in a 1-0 win over Switzerland in Tuesday’s Round of 16 tie.
The word “England” was painted in red on to the chest of a statue of Fyodor Cherenkov, a former Soviet national team player and Spartak Moscow midfielder who died in 2014.
Six of England’s eight previous goals at this tournament had come from dead-ball situations but a series of early set pieces were well defended by Colombia
Worries about violence and other security problems had meant many England fans chose to stay home at the start of the tournament, with just 2,500 visiting Volgograd for England’s first game, against Tunisia.
England have found renewed consistency in their limited overs form to claim the top spot in the ODI rankings and Morgan believes a flexible line-up would prepare them for different scenarios.
Roberto Martinez left most of his first-choice players on the bench on Thursday against England, but still came away with a 1-0 victory to uphold their 100 per cent record in Group G.
Though beaten by Belgium on Thursday, England will play Colombia in Moscow on Tuesday and have seen odds on their trophy hopes cut after solid performances and a less daunting draw.
The Three Lions will head to Moscow to take on Colombia next Tuesday in a round-of-16 World Cup clash that offers England the chance to win a first knockout match since 2006.
The Manchester City midfielder has been given permission by manager Gareth Southgate to temporarily leave the Three Lions’ World Cup camp to be with his wife.
Gareth Southgate replaced John Stones with Harry Maguire at the break over the Manchester City defender’s troublesome calf injury
Neither side can qualify from the group after both losing to Belgium and England, who meet in Kaliningrad to decide who finishes top