Following on from what was a poor Nations League campaign as England’s preparations for the first ever winter World Cup out in Qatar continued, manager Gareth Southgate’s side sort of got their act together as we went into the Group Stage battles.
Having been drawn in Group B in our search to progress through to the knockout stage of the tournament, England opened with a 6-2 victory over Iran, but the second clash against the United States was an incredibly dull affair, and in playing out a scoreless bore draw, England knew they absolutely had to beat Wales in the home nations clash to qualify through. Eventually we took a 3-0 victory to do just that, and gave ourselves a Round of 16 tie against African champions Senegal where we saw our world cup odds increase.
Although former Liverpool striker Sadio Mane had been ruled out with injury, Senegal would be a completely different type of test, but Southgate watched his side notch up a reasonably comfortable 3-0 victory again with goals coming from Jordan Henderson, Harry Kane and Bukayo Saka.
Then the fun really began, as England were drawn against reining World Cup holders France at the Quarter Final stage of the competition.
Confidence was certainly high ahead of the game and a number of Three Lions fans believed it was again ‘Coming Home’ and few would doubt that England were the better side on the night at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor. Sadly for Southgate and the team, being the better side over 90 minutes does not guarantee victory – 16 efforts overall with eight on target gave England absolutely nothing – yet France’s own eight shots with five on target rewarded them with goals in the 17th and 78th minutes of the game.
It is England though, and penalties predictably had to apply at some stage. Tottenham Hotspur striker and England skipper, Harry Kane, had two chances to convert from the spot and both opportunities came when the French had their small advantage.
The 29 year old’s first opportunity came in the 54th minute and he beat team mate Hugo Lloris to tie matters up. Sadly the second attempt was not so clinical and when his next chance from the spot came, with six minutes left in the game, he could not convert and blazed his attempt over the bar.
Making the second effort even more disappointing was the fact that Kane had already equalled Wayne Rooney’s record of 53 goals, and as well as getting us back in the game, it was also his chance to make history and put himself into the record books.
Southgate was understandably down after the final whistle, telling the media.
“The performance did deserve more but of course goals are decisive. I’ve just said to the players they couldn’t have given any more, they played really well against a top team. It is fine margins. The way they have progressed as a team through the tournament has been marvellous.”
Kane’s missed obviously featured in the questioning.
“We win and lose as a team, we let a couple of goals in and missed a few chances. He’s been incredible for us and reliable in those situations, we wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for him.”
Now we see what the future holds for Southgate as the frustration and disappointment passes.
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