Kane’s goal allows Southgate, England to exhale
VOLGOGRAD, Russia — Twice wrestled to the ground during the match, England captain Harry Kane finally evaded the Tunisian defense just as time was running out.
Kane found an open area of space at the far post and used his head to meet Harry Maguire’s flick-on, scoring the winning goal Monday in a 2-1 victory at the World Cup.
It was relief for Kane and Gareth Southgate, who leapt in delight as his World Cup debut as a coach got off to a winning start.
“The best teams in the world keep that belief in what they’re doing,” Southgate said, “and in the end they break the opposition down.”
England shouldn’t have found it so tough in its Group G opener against such opposition. Not after Kane got England off to a perfect start with an 11thminute tap-in. But after Kyle Walker softly conceded a penalty that Ferjani Sassi converted in the 35th, many of the fouls went against England.
“Maybe there was a bit of justice at the end,” Kane said.
Finally, Kane showcased on the international stage the predatory instinct in front of goal that has served Tottenham so well. Only two years ago, the striker failed to find the net at the 2016 European Championship, which ended in humiliation with a loss to Iceland in the last 16.
The team has been transformed by Southgate since then. For all the placidness and togetherness within the group, Southgate has added persistence and doggedness.
“It shows the work we have put in these last few weeks,” Walker said.
BELGIUM 3, PANAMA 0
Unlike the other World Cup favorites that struggled through their opening matches, Belgium looked every part the title contender.
Having Dries Mertens and Romelu Lukaku capable of scoring the way they did against Panama helps.
“People know I am supposed to score goals,” Lukaku said. “The most important thing to me is to win matches.”
Lukaku scored twice in a six-minute span in the second half after Mertens’ volley gave Belgium the lead, and the Red Devils beat overmatched Panama in Sochi.
Saddled with massive expectations and a lineup of talent the envy of other teams in the tournament, Belgium showed flashes of being a team worthy of title consideration.
A shaky first-half performance by Belgium was replaced by a confident, attacking group in the second that was finally able to find gaps in Panama’s defense and convert those chances into goals.
“In the World Cup you have to play 90 minutes,” Belgium coach Roberto Martinez said. “You have to be aware that in any game you go into, if you don’t score early on, you have to be prepared to work hard and go through periods in which you are tested.”
SWEDEN 1, SOUTH KOREA 0
Sweden got the break it needed from the video review system, and team captain Andreas Granqvist didn’t waste the chance.
Granqvist slid his penalty kick into the bottom right corner of the net in the 65th minute to give Sweden a victory over South Korea in Nizhny Novgorod.
The Swedes, playing in their first World Cup since 2006, were awarded the penalty after Salvadoran referee Joel Aguilar consulted a video screen on the sideline. Aguilar had originally waved play on after South Korea substitute Kim Min-woo slid into a tackle and collided with Viktor Claesson. But he took another look and decided Kim had tripped Claesson as he tried to clear the ball.