Jurgen Klinsmann believes Harry Kane had too much time to think about the importance of the penalty that could have saved England’s World Cup dream.
Initially, Wilton Sampaio did not award a spot-kick after Mason Mount had been pushed over by Theo Hernandez but the Brazilian referee gave the penalty after VAR intervened. There was then another delay while England players argued that Hernandez should have been sent off.
And when Kane got the go-ahead to take the penalty, experts have claimed the England captain took 13 seconds longer than normal to execute his kick. Klinsmann, a member of FIFA’s technical study group at Qatar 2022, reckons the delay was costly.
He said: “With penalties, there is far too much time passing with VAR checks between the decisions and the actual execution of the penalty. There is far too much time - it works in your brain. I'm a big Harry Kane fan. If he had the chance to put the ball down and take it immediately, he'd score. But the time goes by and you overthink."
Analysis shows that Kane had eight seconds of thinking-time ahead of his successful penalty and 21 seconds ahead of his miss. Klinsmann clearly thinks that was a factor. But the German believes Kane and his England team-mates can be proud of their efforts in Qatar and that, for the tournament, the showdown with the French came too early.
Klinsmann said: “France came too early - it should have been a semi-final or a final. Overall, they played a very good tournament, it is still a team in growth and able to get better. There is a lot of talent coming though and getting more experience. They have had three good tournaments - Russia, the Euros and here - and, overall, it is very positive. There is more to come from this English side, I think.”
Klinsmann also turned his penalty analysis to the shootout exits of Brazil and Netherlands. Neymar did not get to take a kick for Brazil - he was scheduled to take the fifth but Croatia had won by then - while Virgil van Dijk took the first Dutch penalty and saw it saved.
Klinsmann said: “Put your best shooter first, set the tone with your best penalty-taker. Simple. Put him first and then work your way down the ranking.” The main conclusion from the technical study group was that goalkeepers are having as big an influence as they have ever had in a major tournament.
Of all penalties taken in the competition - including the shootouts - 'keepers have saved 34 per cent of efforts, compared to 25 per cent at Russia 2018. The statistics also show that 'keepers are wanting possession at over double the rate they did four years ago. Of course, Bono’s performance in the Moroccan goal has been a key element of their surprising progression to the semi-finals.
Should Gareth Southgate stay on as England manager? Have your say here!
And Klinsmann believes there will be more surprises at the next, expanded World Cup. He added: “I said before the tournament you’d have to be really well-prepared mentally and physically and adapt. It’s a tournament of adaptation.
“Some countries didn’t adapt and went home earlier. Argentina hasn’t been 100 per cent yet, France has a team extremely focused, what Croatia is doing is amazing, a young nation, great resilience and hunger.
“I’m looking forward to the US, Mexico and Canada, more countries, 48 nations and we will see even more surprises from Africa, Asia and other continents.”
