England captain Harry Kane says he prepared to take two penalties against France in Saturday’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final defeat, but his execution let him down.
Kane emphatically dispatched his first spot kick but skied his second over the bar with just six minutes of normal time remaining to end England’s World Cup hopes and leave the striker inconsolable at full-time.
His first penalty had taken Kane level with Wayne Rooney’s England scoring record of 53 goals and meant he had scored more penalties in normal time at World Cups than any player ever.
But he was unable to surpass Rooney and take Saturday’s quarter-final to extra time.
Asked if the first penalty impacted his thinking, Kane told ITV: “No. I’m always someone who prepares for getting one or two penalties in a game, I always have an idea of what I want to do.
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Kaveh Solhekol and Rob Dorsett analyse England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat to France.
“I can’t fault my preparation or anything like that, it was just the execution on the night. The first pen was great, the second one I didn’t quite hit it how I wanted to.
“I have to take it on the chin, it will hurt for sure, the whole game will hurt. As the captain, I’ll take that, but I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.
“It comes down to a small detail I’ll take responsibility for. I’m not worried about the team and how it will impact them. We have some great talent.”
Kane’s agony in pictures
Kane looks on as his penalty clears the bar
Harry Kane sends his penalty over the bar
France players celebrate after Harry Kane misses his penalty
Kane: We hope Southgate stays
England manager Gareth Southgate was non-committal over his future after Saturday’s defeat with uncertainty about his next move, saying he would review his situation in the coming weeks and months.
Southgate has a contract that would take him through to Euro 2024 and his captain Kane wants him to remain in his post.
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England boss Gareth Southgate says he will ‘take a bit of time’ to think about his future
“That’s down to him [whether he stays].” Kane added. “We’ve loved having him as a manager, I think he’s been incredible, when you see where he’s taken us from to where we are now, it’s an amazing leap.
“I think we all hope he stays, but that’s his decision, obviously he’ll go away and review that, but before we know it we’ll be getting ready for a Euros.”
Southgate coy on England future
Gareth Southgate applauds supporters following England’s loss to France
England manager Gareth Southgate says he “needs a bit of time to review and reflect” following their exit.
“After every tournament we’ve sat down and reviewed and reflected,” Southgate said, in a considered tone. “So we need a bit of time to make sure everyone makes the right decisions.”
Neville fumes at referee: He was a joke
Referee Wilton Sampaio during the World Cup quarter-final has been widely criticised
Gary Neville fumed at the referee, calling him “a joke” and “rank bad”.
Sampaio’s decision-making was under the spotlight when Bukayo Saka was caught by Dayot Upamecano in the build-up to Tchouaméni’s opening goal for France.
The French defender was involved again later in the half, seemingly fouling Kane as he entered the box on the right but VAR failed to intervene, presumably deeming the contact outside the box.
England did finally get a penalty when Saka was fouled by Tchouaméni before VAR had to step in to award their second penalty for a foul on Mason Mount, although Kane fired the decisive penalty over.
Neville said of the referee: “He had an absolute nightmare. A joke of a referee. I’m not saying it was all down to England’s defeat – people will say it is excuses – but he’s just a bad referee, rank bad.”
Neville believed France’s first goal should have been ruled out for the foul on Saka: “It’s a simple decision. He kicks his leg away – I’m not sure why that isn’t a foul. He’s nibbled and he’s kicked him. It should be a free-kick. Upamecano has tried to win the ball on three or four occasions where can’t win the ball, on Saka, on Kane.”
Harry Maguire also told the BBC: “Really poor, very poor. From minute one, there were five, six fouls in the first 15 minutes, not one yellow card. It’s a foul for the first goal, leading up to it on Bukayo.
“I can’t really go into explaining how bad his performance was. I don’t want to go into too much because I’ll end up getting fined. But even though the big decisions were wrong he never gave us anything, throughout the game he was really poor.”
