Harry Kane has backed Thomas Tuchel’s frustrations with England’s performances while insisting the squad know they have another level to reach, with a World Cup semi-final against Argentina in Atlanta on Wednesday evening.
England needed extra-time to beat Norway 2-1 on Saturday, with Kane explaining that Tuchel’s disappointment stems from the gap between what the team show in training and what they produce in matches. “When he sees us train and sees the closeness of us and sees what we can do, especially with the players we have, the way we attack, our one-on-ones and the skills, he just wants to see that version of us,” said Kane. “He’s trying to drag it out of us and we know ourselves we have another level we can reach.”
The 32-year-old captain, who has scored six goals in the tournament and is England’s joint top scorer alongside Jude Bellingham, acknowledged the challenge of facing quality opposition. “We haven’t seen that yet, we’ve shown it in glimpses. Against Norway it was in glimpses. But we haven’t had full control that we would like and I feel we can have,” he added. “We’ll be playing against one of the best teams in the world in the semi-final, so the most pleasing thing is we are in a semi-final and still feel we can improve.”
Bellingham, who has scored twice in England’s last two matches, offered a different perspective to his captain. “It’s difficult out there, it’s a tough shift,” he said. “Maybe he doesn’t know what it’s like to play in those conditions against Erling Haaland, Martin Odegaard, Antonio Nusa and Alexander Sorloth. They’re not an easy team to play against. I can’t speak highly enough of the lads.”
England will face Argentina at 20:00 BST on Wednesday, with the winners set to meet either France or Spain in Sunday’s final. It will be only the fourth time England have reached the semi-finals of a World Cup, having won the tournament in 1966 before losing at the same stage to West Germany in 1990 and Croatia in 2018.
Image credit: BBC Sport / BBC Sport
