Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has asked Harry Kane to keep his head up after missing a crucial penalty for England against France in the 2022 FIFA World Cup quarter-final.
Les Bleus took the lead through Aurelien Tchouameni in the first half before Kane equalized from the penalty spot early on in the second half. Olivier Giroud scored a sumptuous header 12 minutes from time.
But the Three Lions were gifted the chance to equalize once again via the same player after a senseless push from Theo Hernandez on Mason Mount led to a penalty. This time, however, the Tottenham Hotspur striker skied it over the bar.
Regardless of the result, Harry Kane’s goal meant he was tied as England’s all-time top goal-scorer alongside Wayne Rooney. The former has netted 53 times for the nation in just 80 outings, while the latter amassed the tally in 120 appearances.
After the game, Rooney backed Kane to overtake his record in the near future and asked him to keep his head up despite the miss. He wrote on his Twitter account:
“Absolutely gutted for the lads but proud of the way they’ve played this tournament and they should be proud. Congratulations to @HKane on equalling the record, he’ll be on his own soon and couldn’t think of anyone better to take over. Keep your head up Harry ?????????@England”
England told they should not have let Harry Kane take second penalty against France
Harry Kane’s second penalty could very well have been saved even if it was a few inches below the goalpost. Hugo Lloris, his teammate at Spurs, guessed in the correct direction.
This led to former England women’s international Eniola Aluko making an interesting claim.
She stated that perhaps manager Gareth Southgate should have prepared a second penalty-taker due to Lloris and Kane’s history at Spurs. The two have been, of course, teammates at club level for a little over a decade.
Aluko believes that taking another penalty against the French goalkeeper got into his head and could have impacted his focus. She said (h/t Express):
“Obviously this game could have gone to penalties so I think that’s the fine margins. It looked like it got into Kane’s head shooting against his team-mate.
“You saw on the first penalty, he was pulling up his socks and he was really taking his time. Second penalty there I’m thinking ‘should someone else have taken it?”
Harry Kane has been England’s undisputed penalty-taker for quite some time now. Throughout his career, he has failed to score just 11 times in 69 tries.
It’s easy to suggest what could or should have been after the full-time whistle. Had England picked another penalty-taker instead of Kane for the second kick, there would have been added pressure on the player.