No blast regrets for me
Kane hits Bobby record
No chance of a Panenka. Just a thumped penalty into the corner and Harry Kane was level with Sir Bobby Charlton in England’s all- time goalscoring charts.
Gary Lineker would have been sat at home smiling at the irony. Or grimacing.
Kane’s 49th goal for his nation sent him above the man who is now the face of Match of the Day.
Lineker, of course, had the same opportunity from the spot against Brazil 30 years ago – and blew it by being too clever for his own good. He has regretted it ever since.
Now only Wayne Rooney sits above Kane – four goals ahead.
The delighted skipper said: “It is amazing company to be with, I’m super proud to be doing that.
“You have to be ready for any chance at any moment. Penalties are a great way of getting on the scoresheet, I work on them a lot.
“It’s a big year ahead and a chance to hopefully get some more caps, more goals and we’ll see where it takes us.”
Kane’s milestone came in the 78th minute after VAR advised Swedish ref Andreas Ekberg to check the pitch-side monitor to see if Steven Zuber had handled Marc Guehi’s header.
He had – and up stepped Kane to fire a shot past Jonas Omlin.
Switzerland had taken a deserved first-half lead through Breel Embolo but were pegged back before the break with Luke Shaw’s equaliser. AndKane’s spot-kick stretched England’s unbeaten run to 21 games.
Home defender John Stones pulled up in the warm-up so Ben White was drafted into a threeman rearguard for his third cap.
Alongside him was debutant Guehi and Conor Coady.
There was another talented new boy at wing-back in Kyle Walker-Peters.
Switzerland are no mugs. They will be swapping the Alps for the desert in November after going unbeaten to top a group that included England’s Euro nemesis in Italy.
When Kane stood on the ball after being fed by Phil Foden on the early moments, it appeared this wouldn’t be his night.
Granit Xhaka’s powerful shot from distance forced England keeper Jordan Pickford into a smart save in the 22nd minute and Guehi was smart enough to clear the loose ball.
But the Swiss were ahead seconds later. Xherdan Shaqiri sent over a glorious cross and Embolo did the rest with a nod of his head.
Shaqiri then hit a post direct from a corner and Pickford stuck out a powerful paw to divert Fabian Frei’s effort on to the bar.
England were level in firsthalf injury time. Walker-Peters fed Conor Gallagher, his pass found Shaw on the gallop and his left-footed strike flew in.
Then came Kane and his Bobby dazzler.
Boss Gareth Southgate said: “This was a really good test.”