Paper Round: How British media reacted to Harry Kane's last-gasp heroics against Tunisia
‘Justice’ for England
Both The Sun and The Times picked up on Kane’s
quotes that 'justice was done' after claiming he was denied two clear
penalties when being wrestled to the ground inside the penalty area. But
despite the apparent inconsistencies from the referee, it was Kane who
had the last laugh when latching onto Harry Maguire's flick-on.
Maybe a bit of justice has been done at the end to get one at the back post. I think there could have been a couple of penalties, especially when you look at their one. We had so much joy from corners, they were trying to grab hold, trying to stop us running. That’s football, that’s the ref. It shows good character to get on with it and that’s what we’ve done, Kane said.
Kane ‘saves England from unbearable introspection’
“For 20 minutes they were vibrant, mobile, belligerent,” says Barney Ronay, for the Guardian. England were rewarded for their fast start when Kane tapped in a rebound after 11 minutes, but then “That England” entered the fray, and an all-too familiar scenario started to play out as Tunisia frustrated Gareth Southgate’s side after levelling from the spot.
“The revs began to drop,” Ronay continues, until Kane pops up to deliver England their first-ever stoppage time winner at the World Cup. The Spurs forward “will leave England not just unexpectedly buoyant, but perhaps even heading somewhere else altogether”.
England’s ‘self-assured stride’
The Mirror’s Andy Dunn remarked how this “confident, high-fiving, low-fiving, funny-handshaking bunch” possess a self-assurance that does not level up as arrogance, and while there will be issues for Gareth Southgate to address, the England head coach has instilled a sense of belief in his players, made all the more remarkable that seven of that starting line-up also began the Euro 2016 “debacle” against Iceland. “If you want to get carried away, even for a little while, that's fine,” Dunn ends his article.
Sterling struggles
The Independent’s scouting report on Raheem Sterling highlights how the Manchester City
forward arrived in Russia on the back of a 23-goal Premier League
season, but he failed to prove his doubters wrong when presented with a
golden opportunity after four minutes. His near three-year wait for an
England goal goes on, and with Marcus Rashford and Jamie Vardy waiting in the wings, changes could be in the offing against Panama on Sunday.
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