World Cup 2018: Top 5 talking points from England vs Sweden as Three Lions reach semi-final

On Saturday, England survived their appointment in Russia's Samara against Sweden to set up their first World Cup semi-final appearance since 1990. In fact, English fans across the world are still pinching themselves in astonishment, unable to believe that they are in the semi-final of the World Cup! 

 England managed to see off Sweden, which means that Zlatan Ibrahimovic, having lost a bet to David Beckham, will have to wear an England jersey and eat fish and chips at Wembley!

Here are the top five talking points from England's win: 

Another set-piece goal for England

England have scored a remarkable 11 goals at this world Cup. However, eight of them have come set-plays, which some have argued shows a lack of fluency among the players. That, however, hasn’t stopped England from winning and a header from Harry Maguire from Ashley Young’s corner helped England set down an early marker on the half-an-hour mark.

The other goal was also a typical English goal, even though Swedish defenders will wonder how they left Dele Alli so much space at the back post.  

Raheem Sterling fails to pull the trigger

Borrowing a leaf from Piers Morgan’s book, one has to wonder how a man who has a rifle tattooed on his leg can fire so many blanks. Sterling missed numerous chances throughout the match, showing the kind of prolificacy that could’ve more stark consequences if England had lost.  

While Sterling has come in for a lot of racially-motivated unfair criticism over the years, a player of his caliber should really be putting the ball in the net or passing to an open teammate instead of floundering like a fish out of water.

Pickford shows his brilliance once again

Jordan Pickford, a man whose height was mocked by Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois showed his class. The Everton keeper was called into action multiple times during the second half as the Three Lions came under some pressure from their opponents. Pickford, who has been one of England’s stand out performers since his Round of 16 penalty heroics earned plaudits for his heroics.

He made a brilliant save early into the second half from a dangerous header from Marcus Berg and the other came when he blocked a shot from Viktor Claesson. Even David Seaman agreed with Piers Morgan when the journalist claimed that Pickford’s the New Safe Hands.

Thanks mate and totally agree!!!!#SWEvENG

— David Seaman (@thedavidseaman) July 7, 2018

Sweden's defensive agenda falls apart

Sweden were lackluster for the better part of the match. The Swedes set up defensively, deep inside their area and particularly in the first half considered attacking a grave crime. The approach had earned them dividends against Mexico and South Korea, but England were too good. Giving a side with England’s pace so much room turned out to be fatal in the end.  
After going a goal down, Sweden left huge swathes of room for the English forwards to exploit although the English failed to make the most of these gaps.

Doing it the Tottenham way?

If it does come home, and it’s still a huge if which will involve beating one of Croatia/Russia and Belgium/France, England will have done it the Tottenham way. In 1966, Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst, all of West Ham United. Fast forward 52 years, and there’s a distinct Spurs flavour to this particular team.

There are five Tottenham players in the England squad including Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose. Of these, they’ve all played important parts with Kane the tournament’s top scorer, Dele Alli scoring today and Trippier’s deliveries being compared to Beckham's at his peak.

Pochettino’s Spurs are often derided for not winning any trophies, but the Argentine manager might have created a squad that becomes the foundation upon which England builds its first World Cup success in more than 50 years.