Harry Kane was “gutted” on Saturday after missing a critical penalty in England’s 2-1 World Cup quarterfinal loss to France.
The Al Bayt Stadium result would have been tied at 2-2 had England captain Harry Kane did not miss a penalty attempt in the 84th minute.
It was yet another horrible act in England’s long-running psychological drama involving large competitions and severe penalties.
Kane had earlier made no mistakes, converting another penalty at the 54-minute mark to tie Wayne Rooney’s 53-goal record for England.
Kane later said, “I’ll take that on the chin and that responsibility, missing the penalty, so it’s hard.”
Really difficult night to handle. Both the team and I are devastated. Although we had high hopes for this World Cup, it was all about the little things.
“On the night we had the better opportunities, the better stretches in the game, but it comes down to the execution,” he continued.
With 58 conversions and 11 misses throughout his career, Kane, 29, is one of the world’s most consistent penalty-takers in football.
The England captain claimed to have felt confident as he lined up his second penalty of the game against Hugo Lloris of France, a teammate from Tottenham.
“I’m someone who, whenever I prepare, prepares for one penalty in the game, two penalties, so I can’t blame my preparation or detail,” Kane said.
“I felt as confident leading up to the test as I did throughout the first and second. Execution is all that matters. I will take that in stride.
He said, “Of course, it hurts now and it will hurt for probably a long time, but that’s part of being captain and a leader in the squad, you have to accept responsibility.”
At the final horn, Kane had appeared helpless, slumped on the ground as teammates came to his aid.
Kane’s defense was immediately offered by England manager Gareth Southgate. There is no one I would have preferred to have in that circumstance, and if it happened again tomorrow, I would feel the same way, according to Southgate.
He’s been a terrific leader of this group, in my opinion. Even the best will occasionally miss since the success percentage for the best is still 85%. “That’s football,” he said.
The manager said, “It’s terrible for him because he will feel disappointed in himself, but he shouldn’t because it’s 100 minutes of football and there are a lot of things that can happen in terms of winning a game.
