England skipper Harry Kane said he will have to live with the penalty miss that condemned his team to a World Cup quarter-final exit against reigning champions France on Saturday.
The striker had drawn his side level in the Al Bayt Stadium with a successful spot kick that saw him match Wayne Rooney’s record haul of 53 goals as England’s all time top scorer in international football.
He then had the chance to make it 2-2 late on after Mason Mount was barged over by Theo Hernandez in the area but this time he blazed his effort high over the crossbar.
After the final whistle Kane dropped to his haunches and stared at the ground before walking tearfully away to be comforted by England manager Gareth Southgate.
“I’m not someone who thinks too much about it, I prepare the same whether I get one penalty or two penalties in a game,” Kane told the BBC about facing his Tottenham Hotspur teammate Hugo Lloris from the spot for the second time.
“I can’t fault my preparation or the detail before the game, it didn’t feel any different. I felt confident taking it but didn’t execute it the way I wanted to.
“Of course it’s something I will have to live with and take on the chin. But all we can do is be proud of each other and know that the team is in a really good place for the future.”
Kane’s miss will be added to some infamous England penalty failures at major tournaments with the likes of Southgate, Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce all haunted by them, although theirs all happened in penalty shoot-outsrather than in regular play.
“As you’d expect he’s very, very low, but he has nothing to reproach himself for,” Southgate said of Kane. “We’re in a position we are as a team because of his leadership and goals.”
Henderson’s support
Teammate Jordan Henderson came out in Kane’s support, saying England would not have made the quarter-finals without goals from him and added that the striker would come back stronger after his miss.
“We know how many penalties Harry has scored for us,” the England midfielder said after their 1-2 loss.
Kane’s converted spot kick in the second half was his fourth successful conversion at World Cups, not including shoot-outs — more than any other player in World Cup history.
“He scored the first one and how many goals he has scored to get us here.... he’ll be stronger for it in the long run I’m sure. He’s a world-class striker and our captain and we wouldn’t have even been here without him.”
Kane was top scorer in Russia four years ago with six goals as England reached the last four but the 29-year-old managed only two in Qatar.
“For me, we win and lose as a team and we’ve let a couple of goals in and missed a few chances,” Southgate said.“Harry has been incredible for us, so reliable in those sorts of situations. We wouldn’t be here, but for the number of goals he scored for us.”
