Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has suggested there was never a chance Harry Kane was not going to take England's second penalty in their defeat to France.
Three Lions captain Kane brought his team level at 1-1 early in the second half, beating his Tottenham team-mate Hugo Lloris from 12 yards after Bukayo Saka was brought down in the area. Kane later has a chance to score a second equaliser from the penalty spot when Theo Hernandez barged Mason Mount to the ground, but he blazed his effort over the bar.
Back in 2018, Kane scored two penalties in the same World Cup game as England beat Panama. It didn't look for a second as though the skipper would let someone else step up, and Wenger was not at all surprised by the decision.
"He is so important to England that the dynamics in the squad dictate that nobody at that point felt it was appropriate to offer to take the penalty instead," Wenger told beIN Sport (via Metro ). Kane, meanwhile, has spoken out about the pivotal moment.
"Absolutely gutted," Kane wrote on Twitter . "We've given it everything and it’s come down to a small detail which I take responsibility for. There's no hiding from it, it hurts and it’ll take some time to get over it but that’s part of sport.
"Now it's about using the experience to be mentally and physically stronger for the next challenge. Thanks for all the support throughout the tournament - it means a lot."
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Speaking on ITV after the incident, Ian Wright compared Kane's situation to Roberto Baggio's miss in the 1994 World Cup final. "I remember Baggio, in 94, talking about going up for a penalty and hitting it over the bar, [and] he said he felt he was just totally out of control of what he was doing," the former England striker said.
"You see Harry Kane's technique there on the second one, you feel he's leaning back a little bit there but the only thing I would say is he wants to put it the same side but he wants to make sure just in case Lloris goes that side, and I think he's just caught it too well."
France midfielder Adrien Rabiot, meanwhile, believed justice was done after he and his team-mates contested the award of the second penalty. "I thought the refereeing was a bit borderline at times tonight, but we won't linger on that," the Juventus man said.
"Of course, when he missed, we were happy, it was justice because there was no penalty. But sometimes you also need that bit of luck, of success. We had it tonight, everything came together. We are really proud to reach the semi-final in this way."
