Jordan Pickford pleaded with television cameras to stop filming Harry Kane after the England captain was left in tears following his late penalty miss against France.
Kane's unsuccessful spot-kick meant that England succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against Didier Deschamps' side, who advanced to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Olivier Giroud headed home a late winner for the defending champions, who had taken the lead in the 17th minute through Aurelien Tchouameni. Kane had restored parity from the penalty spot early in the second-half.
After blazing a second penalty over the bar, Kane was inconsolable on the pitch after the final whistle and was surrounded by his England teammates.
Pickford, who was standing alongside Kieran Trippier, strode forward and politely eased camera operators away from Kane, who was being consoled by other players. Pickford continued to reason with the camera operators before pictures from the feed cut away to focus on other players.
England were unable to muster up a response after Kane's late miss. The Three Lions skipper had equalled Wayne Rooney's all-time international goalscoring record with his first spot-kick - but that was scant consolation for the striker, who took "responsibility" for England's World Cup exit.
I'm always someone who prepares, if I get one penalty in a game or two penalties, I always have an idea of what I want to do," Kane told ITV when he was asked about his tandem of penalties. "So yeah, I can't fault my preparation or anything like that, the details, it was just the execution on the night.
"The first one was great, and the second one [I] just didn't quite hit it how I wanted to. That's something I'm going to have to take on the chin and it'll hurt for sure. The whole game will hurt because we had belief in what we were trying to achieve, but as the captain I'll take that. I couldn't be prouder of the boys.
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"A World Cup is every four years, it's not like we have another opportunity next year. It is a long time to wait, but like I said I'm proud of the boys. We had a great camp, a great World Cup and like I said, it come down to a small detail that I'll take responsibility for."
Despite Kane's comments, he was defended by Gareth Southgate after the match. The England chief said: “For me, we win and lose as a team. We conceded two and missed a few chances.
“Harry’s been incredible for us, so reliable in those situations. We wouldn’t be here but for the number of goals he’s scored for us. We were here to win the tournament. We had the belief we could and with the performance tonight against the reigning champions we’ve got a team that could have done it.
"At key moments when you play in a high-level game there will be chances created. In most of the big moments we were in the right place. We had more shots on goal, their keeper made a couple of good saves but it’s a game of fine margins."
