England’s final loss will hurt for a long time: Kane

BERLIN: England captain Harry Kane said Sunday’s 2-1 Euro 2024 final loss to Spain, the Three Lions’ second-successive defeat in the tournament’s showpiece game, will “hurt for a long time”.

England lost the Euro 2020 final on penalties to Italy at Wembley, having made it to the semifinals of the World Cup two years earlier.

England were also eliminated at the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup by eventual finalists France, with Kane missing a late penalty.

Speaking with ITV, the England captain, who was subbed off ater 60 minutes, said the latest major tournament heartbreak ater Spain’s late winner was “tough to take”.

“It’s hard to put into words how we’re all feeling right now... We did well to get back into the game and struggled to build on that,” added Kane.

Spain lost Rodri to injury at half-time but took the lead just two minutes into the second half, Lamine Yamal driting in from the let to find Nico Williams, who cut the ball under England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.

Cole Palmer equalised three minutes ater coming on as a substitute to give England hope but Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner with four minutes remaining.

“We’ve been coming from behind all tournament, we’ve got it in the locker. We didn’t take the next step and win it,” Kane said.

“The second half was beter and we got the goal. We got caught with a cross and that’s the final.”

Despite a stellar individual career with numerous goal-scoring honours, the 30-year-old Kane is yet to win a team trophy.

Prior to Sunday’s match, Kane said he would gladly“swapeverythinginmycareer”foreurosglory.

The forward finished with three goals at the tournament, the equal most, but struggled with a back injury.

“It’s an opportunity missed. These finals aren’t easy to get to. You have to take it when it comes and we haven’t done it again. “It’sextremelypainfulandit’llhurtforalongtime.” Asked about the future of England manager Gareth Southgate, Kane said the man who had been in charge since late 2016 would “go away and take time to decide”.

England came into the match as under dogs. This is the closest they came winning a major since their triumph in the FIFA World Cup final in 1966. Their prolonged wait has been extended for some more time.