By Paul Giblin
MOSCOW, July 4 (Xinhua) -- The English press reacted with delight to the victory of the England side in Tuesday's night's dramatic penalty shootout against Colombia late on Tuesday night. The reaction of the press reminds us that in England, where the national team is concerned, there is no middle ground: it's either the End of the World or England are the Greatest in the World.
On Wednesday, apparently it is the latter. Tuesday was the first time since 1996 England have progressed on penalties and only the second time they have won a shootout in eight attempts, so it was no surprise to see even the usually reflective The Guardian headline its sports section "Yes We Can" reflecting a new-found belief in Gareth Southgate's England after years of disappointment.
The Mirror follows the same line with "At Last, England win on penalties," which sums things up in a nutshell. The free morning paper Metro greeted commuters with the (perhaps) tongue in cheek message: "Never in doubt," while the Daily Express uses the same headline, adding "you can all breathe again now."
Meanwhile The Sun, which on Tuesday almost caused a diplomatic incident and provoked the complaints of the Colombian ambassador to London with a not so subtle reference to a banned Class-A drug, decided to play it safe but painful with "the Hand of Jord", highlighting Jordan Pickford's save from Carlos Bacca's spot kick which allowed Eric Dier to send England into the last eight.
The Daily Mail believes the penalty triumph was a "Miracle" and that "the explosion of relief must have been heard in space" (but probably only by aliens with really good hearing).
England captain is clearly a major asset to newspaper sub-editors as shown by The Daily Star which asks "Can we do it? Yes we Kane?" Looking ahead to the quarterfinal The London Evening Standard also issues a charming invitation to the Swedes to "Bring it on," whatever 'it' is.
England face Sweden in Sochi on Saturday which gives sub-editors three more days to think up the next round of headlines: be prepared for some references to the Vikings.
