NEARLY MEN BIDAU REVOIR AGAIN
England continue to pay the penalty for falling short against elite nations as Kane miss proves so costly
WHEN it comes to the knockout stages of major tournaments, the home comforts of Wembley suit England just fine. Stick them on a private jet and pack them overseas and they can’t beat the elite nations for love nor money.
In a run stretching back to Mexico 1970, Les Anglais have now stumbled in the knock-out rounds against Argentina (twice), Germany (three times), Brazil, Portugal, Croatia and now France.
An awful record, their breakthough in major tournaments has improved under Gareth Southgate.
Until they conquer acute travel sickness on foreign soil, they are destined to be the nearly men of international football.
At this level it’s always the penalties which kill them. They get to within 12 yards of claiming their pound of flesh and another Shakespearean tragedy unfolds. Their shirts become wet wipes for the waterfall of tears which tumble.
Trailing the world champions with seven minutes of this quarter-final to play, history beckoned for Harry Kane.
History won’t show that the England captain had a brilliant game here. The record books won’t care that he dragged his team back into the game to equal Wayne Rooney’s scoring record of 53 goals.
Presented with his first penalty of the game after a foul on Bakayo Saka, the England No9 lashed the ball past Spurs club-mate Hugo Lloris to cancel out Aurelien Tchouameni’s brilliant long-range strike after 17 minutes.
With six minutes to play, holders France were closing in on a semifinal meeting with Morocco after Olivier Giroud headed them into the lead for a second time.
Another lifeline backoned for England when French left-back Theo Hernandez had a rush of blood to the head and shoved substitute Mason Mount to the ground inside the area.
That the Brazilian referee didn’t give it the first time around was remarkable, if typical of an erratic display. Urged to take a look at the monitor by the VAR, there could be no room for doubt. Kane was presented with a wonderful chance to shatter Rooney’s landmark and, more importantly, drag the game into extra-time.
There seemed no reason to doubt England’s best player. Yet in a Champions League game against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Champions League, the Spurs skipper blazed over the bar.
Here, once more, he fired a couple of yards over and French hopes of becoming the first champions to retain their crown since 1962 survived.
Substitute Marcus Rashford wasted an inviting 20-yard free-kick in the 99th minute and the final whistle prompted an explosion of gallic joy. In contrast, England players asked for the television cameramen to let their distraught skipper grieve in peace. Nineteen months since sudden-death penalties cost Southgate’s side the Euro 2020 final, the England boss went round his players, trying his best console them one by one. The better side for long spells of this dramatic night in the vast Al Bayt Stadium, he was wasting his time.
The final outcome should come as no surprise. When the draw for Qatar was made, a quarter-final between these old enemies always seemed the likeliest scenario. Champions four years ago, France were favourites for a reason.
Generally, England have a pretty woeful record in World Cup quarter-finals. Until a 2-0 win over Sweden four years ago, they’d won two in eight. The regret here is that they played well. A France side which had won 14 of their last 16 World Cup knockout-round ties were on the ropes for long spells.
In the pre-match press conference, Didier Deschamps was asked if the world champions were overly reliant on their top scorer. If, in essence, they were a one-man team. Reaching the semi-finals, despite Kyle Walker shackling their top scorer Kylian Mbappe, their heroes stemmed from elsewhere.
Discussed in derisory terms in England, Olivier Giroud had the last laugh with the 78th-minute header which divided the teams.
Tchouameni’s stunning opening goal from 26 yards was a rarity because it had nothing whatsoever do with Mbappe. Blotting his copybook by hacking down the superb Saka for the penalty Kane did score, the Real Madrid man was more relieved than most at time-up.
In hindsight all that media talk of Hugo Lloris being the French weak link might have been misguided. Dismissed as the player England could exploit best, the captain embarked on a fascinating duel with his Spurs team-mate Kane before half-time. Beaten from the penalty spot, he won the psychological battle for the second.
The two captains embarked on a one-man war of attrition after Tchouameni’s thundering strike beat Jordan Pickford on his 50th cap.
Lloris raced from his line to block when Kane rolled his man. England’s main man thought he should have had another penalty after Daypt Upemecano allowed him to get the wrong side of him right on the edge of the area. VAR — this time — thought otherwise.
When Kane thundered a 25-yard strike at goal after half an hour — Lloris pushed it round the post — you felt the reward for perseverance had to come some time.
England’s frustration with the curious refereeing of Wilton Sampaio was boiling over whey got the decision they deserved nine minutes into the second half.
Saka won the penalty when, surging into the area at pace, the Arsenal man invited Tchouameni to lunge in. He took the bait.
There was an interminable wait before Kane was allowed to set his record. Calm, composed, there was no doubt over this one. Sending Lloris the wrong way for once, his club-mate wasn’t stopping this one.
Kudos to Pickford. Moments after the leveller the keeper threw himself down low to parry Adrien Rabiot’s half-volley round the post.
That bought the Three Lions time to consolidate and build some
momentum. For a time, they were clearly the stronger team and, when Harry Maguire rose to meet Walker’s swinging free-kick, a bullet header clipped the upright and the England fans in the 68,895 crowd began to believe.
France were curiously passive. There was no sign of an Mbappe explosion.
You only had to glance at the French record in World Cup quarter-finals to know they wouldn’t go down without a fight. They’d won five and lost two. And the first knock-out meeting of these great rivals had a twist in the tail that was still to come.
Earlier in the competition, Giroud — a much maligned figure in the English Premier League — shattered the French goalscoring record held by Theirry Henry. Pickford prevented the veteran striker once with a brilliant instinctive save from a volley, although the AC Milan star should have done much better.
He couldn’t stop him with 12 minutes to play when Greizmann – the No 10 who pulled French strings brilliantly all night — swung in a terrific cross. Giroud ghosted in ahead of Maguire, confirming French suspicions over England’s weak defensive link, to head Griezmann’s cross into the net for 2-1, taking a nick off Maguire.
For France, Morocco’s defensive record of one goal lost in five games will surely make them a tougher nut to crack.