Harry Kane has admitted that he will always be haunted by striking a crucial penalty over the bar as England were eliminated from the World Cup.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward had the chance to level for a second time six minutes from time against France, who held on to win 2-1 in the quarter-final in Qatar last month.
Kane bit on his England shirt, looked to the sky and shook his head before later being consoled by Hugo Lloris, his Spurs team-mate and France captain.
“I’ll probably remember it for the rest of my life, but that’s part of the game,” Kane said. “It was a tough moment for me. It’s never an easy thing to go through, but it’s part of football, part of the highs and lows of our sport. I had a bit of time away after, just to reflect, and it made me even more hungry to come back and be successful.”
Kane has returned from his break to score three league goals, including a brace in a 4-0 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday. It took his tally to 15 league goals this season and he is within two of equalling Jimmy Greaves’s Spurs record of 266 goals for the club across all competitions. It was Tottenham’s first win after two disappointing results since the season resumed.
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“Matches like this are always good for me and the team, and it was much needed after the last couple of results,” he said. “After it [the penalty miss] happened, I just wanted to play again as quick as possible and get it out of my head. It’s something you have to deal with. It’s not going to affect me as a player or as a person. I’ll keep working hard to improve.”
Kane has welcomed Gareth Southgate’s decision to stay in charge of England until after the European Championship in 2024. The striker believes that England have a point to prove after losing to Italy in the Euro 2020 final and to Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semi-final.
“I feel like there’s some unfinished business there and he’s a fantastic coach,” Kane said. “We’ve been close on a few occasions. We looked strong in the tournament and it was small details that ended up not going our way. It will be nice to have another go at the Euros with the same team and staff.”
