Bogota bracelets, scorpion spades and dodgy barnets! A brief history of England vs Colombia as the Lionesses are about to write the next chapter in the World Cup quarter-final

What will be written in the next chapter of the Anglo-Colombian football story no one can say for sure.

England’s Lionesses will take on Colombia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup on Saturday in the final episode between the two countries.

The history between these two nations has been so complicated, controversial and frankly cuckoo that anything can happen when Sarina Wiegman’s team goes up against Colombia in Sydney.

From conspiracy to tragedy, haircuts to scorpions, David Beckham to Kirsty MacColl, it’s an extraordinary story more than half a century in the making.

Mail Sport takes a look back at some of the most important chapters in England and Colombia history.

CHAPTER ONE

THE BOGOTA BRACELET

It was 1970 and the month of May when the England players traveled to Bogota for their first meeting with Colombia.

Captain Bobby Moore led the team to a 4-0 win and made headlines. Not for packing a brace, but for allegedly packing a bracelet he allegedly stole from a jewelry store in the Hotel Tequendama, where the world champions were staying.

Shop assistant Clara Padilla claimed that Moore pocketed the £625 gold piece when he and Bobby Charlton had walked in to find a present for Charlton’s wife, Norma.

England captain Bobby Moore was famously accused of stealing a bracelet in Bogota

Colombian agents asked Moore to sign a “declaration of innocence.” He did, only to discover that they intended to keep him in custody. The store’s owner, Danilo Rojas, ranted: ‘He is perhaps the best footballer in the world, the most attractive, distinguished and most esteemed of all, a friend of Her British Majesty. That doesn’t mean he’s not a kleptomaniac.’

After much politicking between the countries – even British Prime Minister Harold Wilson intervened – Moore was released. He arrived just in time to play for England in their 1970 World Cup opener against Romania in Mexico. It led to claims of a conspiracy to upset the English before defending their title, and thus began the Anglo-Colombian Affair.

CHAPTER TWO

ESCOBAR’S EXECUTION

England and Colombia then met in May 1988. It ended 1–1 at Wembley, with Gary Lineker scoring and Andres Escobar equalizing.

Six years later, Escobar scored again at the 1994 World Cup – an own goal in a 2–1 loss to the USA that would cost Colombia their place in the tournament and Escobar his life. Ten days later, he was shot dead by three assailants in Medellin.

Andres Escobar scored against England six years before being killed off for a mistake he made during Colombia’s run at USA 94

He was 27 and killed for making a mistake in a football game. Many countries contributed to charity in his name, with England playing their part by inviting Colombia to a friendly at Wembley in September 1995.

CHAPTER THREE

HIGUITA’S BONKERS SCORPION KICK

We’ll leave it to Jamie Redknapp to explain what happened during that friendly in 1995.

“I made my international debut,” Redknapp tells Mail Sport. ‘We were tied 0-0 when I was involved, albeit accidentally, in a showboating competition. I shot the ball towards goal and instead of catching it, Colombian goalkeeper Rene Higuita saved it with a scorpion kick.’

A crazy moment from the showboater with a tracksuit and fluffy hair.

A classic bit of Rene Higuita’s showmanship that lit up a boring mid-1990s friendly game

CHAPTER FOUR

BECKS’ FIZZ HAS THE RIGHT NOTE

Speaking of her, England and Colombia met for the fourth time in June 1998 when David Beckham’s free kick flew over the wall into the goal, his first goal for his country. Fortunately, the ball evaded Carlos Valderrama’s blond frizzy mop when England knocked Colombia out at the 1998 World Cup.

Kirsty MacColl then wrote a song for her 2000 album Tropical Brainstorm called England 2 Colombia 0 about watching the game in a pub in Belsize Park with a man who turned out to be married with children.

David Beckham announced his arrival on the world stage with this free kick in France 98

CHAPTER FIVE

TAKE THE MICKEY

Fast forward to 2005 and a fifth meeting, this time with Michael Owen scoring a hat-trick in a 3-2 win in New Jersey, with just 22 minutes between his first and third as Peter Crouch made a memorable England debut.

Michael Owen scores one of his three goals against Colombia in a game in New Jersey

CHAPTER SIX

GREAT TINO, WRONG FALCAO

Colombians in the Premier League have had mixed results. Radamel Falcao? flop. One of the great Colombian players has never shown interest in Manchester United or Chelsea. Tino Asprilla? Now there was a player who fell to English folklore for all the right reasons.

Asprilla received a warm welcome to Newcastle in February 1996, landing in a snowstorm. Fortunately, wearing a fur coat in preparation, he became a memorable member of Kevin Keegan’s cast of entertainers, scoring a famous hat-trick against Barcelona in Toon’s first Champions League match at St James’ Park in September 1997.

Ever the eccentric, he went on to sell his own brand of condoms. “Score a nice goal for your partner,” it says on the company’s social media today.

Tino Apsrilla’s spell at Newcastle is fondly remembered during the Magpies’ heyday in the 1990s

CHAPTER SEVEN

MIRACLE IN MOSCOW

Finally. For the first time, England won a penalty shootout at a World Cup. It was July 2018 in Moscow when a 1-1 draw led to the dreaded penalty kicks.

England won 4-3, Eric Dier scored the decisive penalty and the following day’s back page of the Daily Mail read: Souvenir Edition: England win on penalties.

Eric Dier put down the ghosts of England’s World Cup shootouts during the 2018 final with this winner

The only time our Lionesses have faced these historic opponents was at the 2015 World Cup, when Karen Carney and Fara Williams scored in a 2-1 group stage victory.

Should this latest encounter go a long way, how we’d love another shootout celebration like 2018 to take on the next chapter of this burgeoning rivalry.