England captain Harry Kane says he prepared to take two penalties against France in Saturday’s 2-1 World Cup quarter-final defeat but was let down by their execution.
Kane emphatically took his first shot but skied his second over the bar with just six minutes of normal time to end England’s World Cup hopes and leave the striker inconsolable at full-time.
His first penalty had leveled Kane with Wayne Rooney’s England goalscoring record of 53 goals and meant he had scored more penalties in normal time at the World Cup than any player ever.
But he couldn’t get past Rooney and take Saturday’s quarter-final into extra time.
Asked if the first penalty affected his thinking, Kane told ITV: “No. I’m always someone who prepares for 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 analyze England’s World Cup quarter-final defeat by France.
“I can’t fault my preparation or anything like that, it was just the execution of the night. The first pen was great, the second I didn’t quite hit it like I wanted to.
“I’ve got to take it on the chin, it’s definitely going to hurt, the whole game is going to hurt. As captain I’ll take it but I couldn’t be prouder of the boys.
“It’s a small detail that I’ll take responsibility for. I’m not worried about the team and how it’s going to affect them. We have a lot of talent.”
Kane’s agony in pictures
Image: Kane looks on as his penalty clears the bar Image: Harry Kane sends his penalty over the bar Image: France players celebrate after Harry Kane misses his penalty
Kane: Let’s hope Southgate stays
England manager Gareth Southgate was non-committal about his future after Saturday’s defeat with uncertainty over his next move, saying he would review his situation in the coming weeks and months.
Southgate has a contract that would see him through to Euro 2024 and his captain Kane wants him to stay in charge.
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England manager Gareth Southgate says he will ‘take a bit of time’ to think about his future
“That’s up to him [whether he stays]Kane added: “We’ve loved having him as our manager, I think he’s been amazing, when you see where he’s taken us to where we are now, it’s an incredible leap.
“I think we all hope he stays, but that’s his decision, obviously he’ll go out and review it, but before we know it we’ll be preparing for the Euros.”
Southgate coy about England’s future
Image: Gareth Southgate applauds supporters after England’s defeat by France
England manager Gareth Southgate says he “needs some time to review and reflect” after his exit.
“After every tournament we’ve sat down and reviewed and reflected,” Southgate said, in a considered tone. “So we need some time to make sure everyone makes the right decisions.”
Neville gets angry at the referee: It was a joke
Image: The referee Wilton Sampaio during the quarter-finals of the World Cup has been criticized a lot
Gary Neville infuriated the referee, calling him a “joke” and “bad rank”.
Sampaio’s decision-making came under the spotlight when Bukayo Saka was caught by Dayot Upamecano in the build-up to Tchouaméni’s first goal for France.
The French defender was involved again later in the half, apparently fouling Kane as he entered the box on the right, but the VAR did not intervene, presumably ruling the contact offside. area
England eventually got a penalty when Saka was fouled by Tchouaméni before VAR had to step in to award his second penalty for a foul on Mason Mount, although Kane fired home the decisive penalty.
Neville said of the referee: “He had an absolute nightmare. A joke of a referee. I’m not saying it’s because of England’s defeat, people will say they’re excuses, but he’s just a bad referee, misclassified” .
Neville believed France’s opener should have been ruled out for a foul on Saka: “It’s a simple decision. He kicks his leg, I don’t know why it’s not a foul. He’s bitten and kicked it . He should. Upamecano has tried to win the ball on three or four occasions where he can’t win the ball, to Saka, to Kane.”
Harry Maguire also told the BBC: “Very poor, very poor. From minute 1, there were five, six fouls in the first 15 minutes, not a yellow card. It’s a foul for the first goal, which led in Bukayo.
“I can’t really go into how bad his performance was. I don’t want to go into it too much because I’ll end up with a fine. But even though the big decisions were wrong, he never gave us anything, throughout the The game was really poor.”