Harry Kane has admitted that England weren’t at their best in their goalless draw with Ghana, with the Three Lions missing out on the chance to secure their involvement in the World Cup knockout stages.
Thomas Tuchel’s men failed to build on their impressive display over Croatia last time out in a match of few chances.
The greatest opportunity of the game did fall to Kane, only for the England striker to blast over from close range.
Some fans and pundits have been left disappointed by what they saw from the Three Lions on Tuesday night.
But Kane thinks there’s no need to panic and admitted that England simply couldn’t break down an opponent that battled until the very end.
“Obviously disappointed not to win the game,” he said.
“It’s a game we knew we had loads of possession, we did and they defended well in a low compact block and made it difficult to play in the middle or the pitch, so the game was outside and one v one duels.
“I think both ends of the half in the first and second half we got some momentum there and chances.
Harry Kane has admitted that England weren’t at their best against Ghana, with the Three Lions missing out on the chance to secure their involvement in the World Cup knockout stages
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“It’s a game we could’ve walked away 1-0, 2-0 and moved on.
“It was never going to be the prettiest game because of the way they played.
“Credit to them, they defended well, dangerous on the counter-attack.
“Overall, we defended that pretty well. They didn’t have many chances. We take the point and move on.”
Harry Kane missed a big chance for England in their World Cup clash with Ghana
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When asked what England lacked to secure victory, Kane sounded uncertain.
“Maybe just a little bit of quality but these games are tough,” continued the 32-year-old.
“I’ve played in these types of games, a lot of us have played in these types of games.
“Sometimes you need an early goal to open up the match, for them to come out but as the game goes longer at 0-0, they believe more and defend more with their heart.
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“We still had chances towards the end there. I’m backing myself to score more often than not.
“[It was] one of those but I’ve lived the striker life long enough to know they’re not always going to go in.
“I back myself nine times out of 10 but it just didn’t fall my way today.
“We wanted that second win today but it weren’t to be. But overall we’re in a good position and we look forward to the next one.”
“We still had chances towards the end there. I’m backing myself to score more often than not.
“[It was] one of those but I’ve lived the striker life long enough to know they’re not always going to go in.
“I back myself nine times out of 10 but it just didn’t fall my way today.
“We wanted that second win today but it weren’t to be. But overall we’re in a good position and we look forward to the next one.”
England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has also played down the magnitude of the result.
“We knew it was going to be tough against Ghana. We knew they would play counter-attacking football,” he said.
“They were really hard to break down, we had our chances and we had to be wary of counter attacks, but that’s football and we needed to get the first goal.
“They played a good game, but we have got to be happy.
Bukayo Saka laments a missed chance in England’s World Cup match with Ghana
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“We’re still top of the group, now focus on Panama and top the group.
“Ghana have players like [Antoine] Semenyo so you have to be ready to be called upon and that’s what I felt I did.
“We would’ve loved to win the game, but we have not lost. It’s tournament football and still in our hands to top the group. You play different teams every game and we just needed that goal, it’s as simple as that. We limited them to so little chances.
“We never managed to get that goal, but that’s football.”
