There are few players in the world better equipped than Harry Kane to respond positively to his penalty miss in Saturday’s crushing defeat.
The captain’s skied finish immediately joined the annals of haunting and heartbreaking England moments, up there with Chris Waddle at Italia 90, Gareth Southgate at Euro 96 and Bukayo Saka in last summer’s European Championship.
This time, it was neither a semi-final nor final, but this was an England team more capable than any since 1966 of winning the World Cup and who went toe-to-toe with the holders.
Like his manager, who has suggested he will always carry the pain from Wembley 26 years ago, Kane will have to live with the moment he blazed his spot-kick over the bar.
In Southgate’s case, the memory ate away at him and he has spoken of a relief at repaying some of his “debt to the country” by guiding England through a penalty-shootout win at the last the World Cup in 2018, but has also said he will never be able to compensate his team-mates.
Kane, though, has built an entire career and, quite literally, a brand on his ability to respond to setbacks. The launch of his new foundation this year was accompanied by a short animated video entitled ‘Resilience’, detailing Kane’s rise from a dejected schoolboy released by Arsenal to England captain — and now the country’s joint-top scorer of all-time.
The 29-year-old is driven by setbacks and proving his doubters wrong and has described recovering from adversity as “part of my identity”.
“There are going be knocks along the way, there’s going to be ups and downs, but it’s about how you cope with that,” Kane said in October.
“Keep working and moving forward. For sure, my personality is to prove, not just people wrong, but to myself that I can be the best that I know I can be.”
Kane is already framing Saturday’s heartbreak in these terms and has vowed to use the experience “to be mentally and physically stronger”.
For many players, there would be a question over their readiness for the second half of the domestic season given the tight turnaround, but with Kane the situation should be a motivator, and prove a positive for Tottenham.
He will need a short break to refresh body and mind, but it is hard to envisage anything other than Kane being determined to put the incident behind him when Spurs resume the season at Brentford on Boxing Day.
Brentford away was also the first match for Saka after his decisive penalty miss in the Euro 2020 Final, and the Arsenal winger received a standing ovation from both sets of supporters. Kane is a far more experienced player, but deserves a similar reception.
If there are lingering questions about Kane, they are over his penalty technique, once among the most assured in the game but now a little in doubt. Saturday was his third missed penalty of the season and not the first time he has fluffed a second spot-kick in a game by blazing it over, suggesting the possibility of a trend.
In October’s win over Frankfurt, Kane did similar to Saturday, scoring his first penalty with a fierce, lifted finish but firing his second way over the top. Faced with the same goalkeeper twice from 12 yards, Kane appears to suffer from uncharacteristic doubts and prioritises power. That said, there were unique pressures on his latest miss, including facing a familiar foe in Hugo Lloris.
Falling short again with his country and suffering personal heartbreak in the process may only further crystallise Kane’s desire to win silverware at club level
Kane revealed before the match he had almost never practised penalties against his club-mate, instead using second- or third-choice keepers for drills. But no one will have a better idea of Kane’s technique and thought process than the France captain.
Another question, and an uncomfortable one for Spurs fans, is whether the miss and England’s exit will have any impact on how Kane views his future.
Falling short again with his country and suffering personal heartbreak in the process may only further crystallise Kane’s desire to win silverware at club level, and prompt him to take a more selfish view of the rest of his career.
In the meantime, having matched Wayne Rooney’s England record with his first penalty on Saturday, Kane needs six more goals to surpass Jimmy Greaves as Spurs’s all-time top scorer. He will be more motivated than ever to make further history.
