Harry Kane has vowed to avenge the ghosts of Wembley and end the country’s years of hurt, after Ollie Watkins’ last-minute stunner sent England into Sunday’s Euro 2024 final.
England booked their place in a second straight European final thanks to a famous 2-1 victory over the Netherlands here and will now head to Berlin for a final against Spain looking to go one better than the heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat to Italy on home soil three years ago.
“We are going to give everything to win,” Kane said. “We missed it by one step in the last Euros. That hurt us for a long time.
“I know it hurt the nation for a long time. We’ve worked extremely hard to get to this moment and we’re going to do everything possible to bring back that trophy.”
Reaching this weekend’s final caps a remarkable turnaround for Gareth Southgate’s side, who were heavily criticised after an underwhelming start to their campaign, but now stand as the first England men’s team to reach a major final overseas.
For the second time in Southgate’s tenure they are now just one win from ending a wait for silverware that has run since the 1966 World Cup, and Kane is desperate to follow in the footsteps of the great Bobby Moore by captaining the side to glory.
“There was a lot of talk early, understandably, because we weren’t playing as well as I know we can,” said Kane, whose first-half penalty levelled the scores after Xavi Simons’ long-range strike had given the Dutch the lead.
“But ultimately I said judge us after the tournament, judge us when it’s finished. Step by step we’ve been improving and we fully deserve it.
“Of course, there’s that feeling we’ve got one more to go. The job’s not finished. We’ve got to a final, we can be proud of that, but ultimately that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to win it.”
England have now trailed in all three knockout games en route to the final, but each time have fought back to snatch victory in dramatic fashion.
Here, sent on for the tiring Kane with nine minutes to play, Watkins was the hero, his brilliant turn and strike sparking wild scenes of celebration as the clock ticked into added time.
“It showed the character, the resilience, everything we speak about,” Kane added. “It took a special moment from Ollie.
“We speak a lot about being together as a team and all 26 players being ready for their opportunity. You never know when it’s going to come, so be ready to take your chance. And Ollie did that, so I’m really proud of him.”
Watkins was assisted by fellow substitute Cole Palmer and revealed afterwards he had predicted their link-up.
“I said to Cole at half-time that he was going to set me up,” said Watkins. “It happened. I manifested it!”
