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England in the quarters, here we go again
With a World Cup quarter-final tomorrow, Philosophy Football’s Mark Perryman dares to hope for England
England players celebrate after beating Colombia and advancing to the 2018 World Cup quarter finals

FOR fans of a certain age, we’ve been here before. World Cup 2002, England v Brazil in the quarters. 1-0 up. Then Rivaldo equalises on the cusp of half-time before just after the break, Ronaldinho scores what proved to be their winner. English hopes dashed. Never mind, no disgrace going out to the eventual champions.

Four years later and it’s all about Rooney’s sending off, Cristiano Ronaldo’s knowing wink to the Portuguese bench and another dismal English showing in a long list of the like in penalty-shoot-outs.

Unbeaten with 10 men over 120 minutes, this one we could put down to a mix of bad luck and continental skulduggery.

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