World Cup 2018: Colombia warn England that David Ospina will break their hearts if it goes to penalties
COLOMBIA are warning England: David Ospina is Gunner break your hearts at penalties.
The Arsenal keeper, who is set to win his 90th cap in Tuesday’s last-16 showdown, has saved just one of the seven spot-kicks he faced during four years playing second fiddle to Petr Cech at the Emirates.
But the 29-year-old’s first coach back in Colombia believes Ospina has the temperament to deny England if it comes down to a shootout in Moscow.
Juan Carlos Quintero, the Under-20s coach at Atletico Nacional, told SunSport: “David is an intelligent and intuitive person.
“Together with his excellent sporting ability, he is a goalkeeper with excellent possibilities of saving from the penalty spot.
“I consider some of his strengths as a goalkeeper the calmness and security he gives off to his team-mates.
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“I’m supremely proud because David is a footballer who has come up from the club’s youth academy.”
Quintero worked with Ospina when he started his pro career with Nacional in 2005.
The keeper went on to win two Colombian league titles in three years while he was still a teenager before a move to Europe with French club Nice.
Quintero added: “David was always regarded as a goalkeeper with a promising future ahead of him from a very young age.
“He was the first-choice goalie for the club’s Under-19 team when he was only 16 and he was promoted to the first-team squad aged just 17.”
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If Colombia beat England for the first time in their history, then will reach a second successive World Cup quarter-final under Argentine boss Jose Pekerman.
There is immense pressure from the South American public and press that they progress into the Last 16.
And if they make an impact, then they will be treated like heroes.
Quintero said: "Us Colombians are very passionate about our national side and a potential win over England would probably make our players more representative of our society than they are today.”