Kane likely to bring home Golden Boot
Harry Kane will likely come home from the World Cup with the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and a burnished reputation as a feared forward.
Had Kane added to his six goals in Russia with either of his back-to-back chances in the second half against Croatia on Wednesday, when England was dominating and led 1-0, he could have been lifting the trophy on Sunday.
Or the header in stoppage time at the end of 90 minutes when the score was 1-1 and a goal would likely have sent England into the final against France.
Rising high at the back post to meet another precise free kick from Kieran Trippier, Kane misconnected and the ball bounced wide.
“It’s been great to get to this stage but we wanted to keep going. We wanted to win it all,” Kane said. “It hurts . ... It just hurts.” MACRON TO MEET WITH PUTIN >> French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin with France having made it to the World Cup final in Moscow and on the eve of Putin’s high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Macron’s office said Wednesday that he and Putin spoke by phone after France won its semifinal late Tuesday to advance to Sunday’s final. Macron was at the semifinal in St. Petersburg and will travel back to Russia for the decisive closing match.
Macron’s office said he will take advantage of his trip for a meeting with Putin but did not elaborate on what the presidents will discuss.
Macron has sought to raise France’s profile by engaging with other world leaders even when they take controversial actions. Macron met Wednesday with Trump at a NATO summit in Brussels where the U.S. president has criticized European allies.
SEXISM A BIGGER PROBLEM THAN RACISM >> Sexism has Harry Kane failed to score in England’s semifinal but can still win the Golden Boot.
been a bigger problem than racism at this World Cup, according to antidiscrimination experts advising FIFA.
Fans harassing female broadcasters while they worked are among about 30 cases of “sexism on the streets” reported to FIFA by the Fare network.
Analyzing the World Cup’s issues at a briefing Wednesday, the head of FIFA’s diversity program also acknowledged wanting fewer images of attractive women in stadiums to be shown on future broadcasts. Federico Addiechi said FIFA plans to talk with national broadcasters and its TV production team about the issue.
Racism was predicted to be the main World Cup problem because of longstanding issues in Russian soccer and European fan bases.
FIFA TAKES ON PIRATING >> FIFA says it will start legal action against a Saudibased TV channel broadcasting pirate World Cup signals across the Middle East.
World Cup and Champions League TV rights for the Middle East are a proxy battleground in a year-old, Saudi-led boycott of Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host. The BeOutQ channel broadcasts major soccer competitions even though Qatar’s beIN Sports holds the rights for the region.