HARRY HOUDINI!
Captain Kane & the Great Escape
HARRY KANE was the pride of England last night after his two goals handed the Three Lions a valuable victory in their World Cup opener. Kane’s double, including an addedtime headed winner, saw Gareth Southgate’s team beat a stubborn Tunisia in their first Group G game – just the third time in World Cup history England have triumphed in their opening fixture. England spurned numerous chances to put the game out of reach of Tunisia, who equalised through Ferjani Sassi’s spot-kick after Kyle Walker had been harshly penalised when Fakhreddine Ben Youssef ran into him and threw himself to the ground. Kane, who was refused two penalties when hauled to the ground during corners, said: “It’s massive – I’m so proud of the lads. It was tough. I thought we played well
especially in the first half and deserved to be ahead – we could have scored a few more.
“I’ve not seen the penalty back yet but from my point of view [the foul by Walker] didn’t look like one. Credit to the lads, we kept going. It’s the World Cup and you keep going to the last second.
“We’re absolutely buzzing. We spoke a lot about togetherness. We have a great bond off the pitch and it’s nice to see it on the pitch. Everyone is delighted.”
Kane, whose double moves him to 15 goals from his first 25 matches for his country, claimed justice was served by his late winner.
“We could have had a couple of penalties, especially when you look at their one,” he said.
“We had so much joy from corners – they were trying to grab hold, trying to stop us running. Maybe a bit of justice at the end to get one at the back post.
“That’s football, that’s the ref. It shows good character to get on with it and that’s what we’ve done.”
Southgate agreed with his captain’s assertion and praised his players’ calmness under pressure.
“I was happy of the way we kept playing even though the clock was running down,” he said. “We stayed patient, we didn’t just throw the ball in the box. We deserved the win.
“We created so many clear-cut chances, especially in the first half and we were in total control in the second half. We were strong on set plays all night. Even if we’d drawn, we’d still have been proud of the performance.
“We’ll do well to make as many chances in a game again in this tournament. The movement, pace, control from the back with the ball was pleasing. We wore them down. Good teams score late goals – if you dominate the ball the opposition tire.”