England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford had details of EVERY Colombian players’ penalty-kick habits on a special water bottle handed to him just before Tuesday night’s tense World Cup victory over Colombia.

Pickford had stayed hydrated with a normal squad bottle during the 120 minutes match time in Moscow that ended 1-1.

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But once the match moved to penalties, England goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson appeared with a second drinking vessel, this one covered in data relating to where Colombia’s players prefer to place their spot-kicks, all of which had been uncovered by research undertaken by England’s video-analysis team.

When Pickford and opposite number David Ospina came face-to-face before the drama unfolded, England’s No.1 had a bottle wrapped in a towel, masking the fact that it was a document containing secrets – and keeping the truth from Ospina so he could not warn Falcao & Co.

This is not the first time such subterfuge has been employed – the idea was borrowed from the GB women’s hockey team who know a thing or two about winning.

For the record, Pickford went on to save Carlos Bacca’s penalty – Colombia’s fifth spot-kick – before Eric Dier netted England’s fifth to clinch a 4-3 victory and earn a quarter-final tie with Sweden on Saturday afternoon.