Calcutta: Nya Kirby scored the fifth goal for his team in the shoot-out and started running towards the reserve bench. Coach Steve Cooper and the rest in the English dugout were all overjoyed. Their celebrations before the nearly 53,000-strong turnout said it all.

After a tough, barren 90 minutes, England beat a spirited Japan 5-3 in the penalty shoot-out at the Salt Lake stadium on Tuesday to book a Fifa U-17 World Cup quarter-final berth.

England will now take on the United States in Saturday's quarter final in Margao. This is the third time England have advanced to the quarters, the other two occasions being in 2007 and 2011.

Goalkeeper Curtis Anderson was the hero for England, who saved Hinata Kida's shot in the shoot-out, apart from scoring one himself. Rhian Brewster, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Philip Foden were England's other scorers in the shoot-out. Yukinari Sugawara, Taisei Miyashiro and Soichiro Kozuki scored for Japan.

England started the game on a usual attacking note. But early in the fourth minute, England goalkeeper Anderson brilliantly saved Kozuki's right-footed attempt.

Thereafter, though, England again took control of the game, with the likes of Brewster, Foden, Hudon-Odoi and captain Angel Gomes keeping Japan defenders busy.

In the 14th minute, Brewster's shot went wide. He tested Japan 'keeper Kosei Tani soon after off a Gomes pass, while at the other end, Takefusa Kubo's effort from 25 yards went over the horizontal.

England got the best chance in the 27th minute when Brewster rattled the vertical off Foden's set-up.

On the eve of the game, Cooper had focused on team effort being England's strength. His boys did play the team game, but Jadon Sancho was badly missed.

The Borussia Dortmund playmaker was called back by his club on Monday. Had he been there on the day, England could well taken a handsome lead in the first half itself.

Japan started the game as underdogs, but after their spirited performance in the first 45 minutes, they started playing a more calculative game as the match progressed. They showed determination while on the other hand, England began to fumble a bit as they were not getting their desired goal.

It was proved that without Sancho, this England side seems to be missing the aura of invincibility. The message is clear for Cooper's boys - if they have to achieve their target of winning the Cup, they must come out of the Sancho hangover.

Yoshiro Moriyama's boys have to be lauded as they kept testing England for most part. They may not have won, but such an encouraging performance should help them in the coming days.

Moriyama wasn't too disappointed after the game. "We tried our best. In shootouts, anything can happen. So, I am happy with our performance. We did everything, but just couldn't scoring the goal," Moriyama said.

"But this experience will help us. The support we have got here is unbelievable."

East Bengal's Japanese midfielder Katsumi Yusa too was present at the ground and he also was pleased with Japan U-17 boys' performance.