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Kane takes his shot at redemption and goes top of fabled list

OLIVER HOLT Chief Sports Writer

Harry Kane took the ball in his hands and walked up to the penalty spot in the Stadio Diego armando Maradona. and suddenly, for a few seconds, our minds were taken back to a stadium in the desert a few miles north of Doha on Saturday, December 10 last year.

Kane was standing over a penalty spot then, too, with six minutes to go of a World Cup quarter-final and england trailing France 2-1.

It was 103 days ago but the moment is etched on all our memories. Kane, who had already scored one penalty in the game, took his run-up and then smashed the ball high, high over the crossbar. and Kylian Mbappe laughed with relief. and every england fan in the ground was stunned into silence.

The miss cost Kane the chance to break his country’s goalscoring record. and england went out of the World Cup.

now he was standing over the penalty spot again. There were two minutes to go until half-time in england’s first match since that grim night in Qatar and Giovanni Di Lorenzo had handled the ball in the Italy area.

and in another big game, england’s critical opening match of their euro 2024 qualifying campaign against one of the traditional powerhouses of the game, Kane had a shot at a kind of redemption.

This time, just like almost every other time he takes a penalty, he made no mistake. He sent Gianluigi Donnarumma the wrong way and clipped his kick inside the left-hand post.

This time, he had it. This time he had no 54, the goal that established him as england’s greatest goalscorer, the goal that took him above Wayne rooney in that fabled list of goalscorers that includes Sir Bobby Charlton, Gary Lineker and Jimmy Greaves.

The penalty put england 2-0 up after Declan rice’s earlier strike and, even though Mateo retegui pulled one back for Italy early in the second half, Luke Shaw was sent off for a second bookable offence 10 minutes from time and the home side were much the better team after the break, england had the guts and the doggedness to hang on and come away with the win.

Kane’s goal was the difference. It was closer than it should have been but it was still a hugely important win. In the euro 2020 final, Italy had pegged england back, but not this time.

If this qualifying competition and the finals which follow it are to form Gareth Southgate’s last dance as england boss, this victory and the qualities england showed during it made it the perfect start.

england’s first win in Italy since 1961 was significant not just because of Kane’s goal and the way england clung on for their win but also because of the performances of Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka.

There were times in the first half when Bellingham, who is still only 19, bestrode the game and made everyone else on the pitch look ordinary. He and Saka and rice and others are the cornerstones of a bright future.

Southgate’s selection of Kalvin Phillips to anchor midfield alongside rice in the starting line-up was a surprise that gave the england team an even more distinctive flavour of euro 2020.

eight of the XI that walked out in to the bowl of this stadium had started the final of that tournament. Two others, Bukayo Saka and Jack Grealish, had come on as substitutes. They all had scores to settle.

Phillips, one of the breakout stars of those euros, has been a peripheral figure at Manchester City since they signed him from Leeds last summer and has only played 344 minutes for the club all season.

He was even criticised by City manager Pep Guardiola for returning from the World Cup overweight, but if ever there was a night for him to rekindle his reputation as the yorkshire Pirlo, this was it.

england looked jittery in the early stages and napoli full back Di Lorenzo should have done better when a free- kick from Lorenzo Pellegrini found him unmarked 10 yards out.

Southgate’s side gave the ball away at will and Italy’s young argentina-based striker retegui fluffed another half-chance when he glanced a header wide from a corner.

It was Bellingham who settled england’s nerves. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder gave his team some respite when he collected the ball in his own half and drove between two Italy defenders to win a foul and after 13 minutes, he burst forward again, collected a pass from Jack Grealish, and unleashed a rising drive that was tipped over superbly by Donnarumma.

It was only a brief escape for Italy, though. Saka took the resulting corner and when it fell to Kane, his shot was deflected in to the path of rice. rice swung his left foot at it from eight yards out and the ball flew past the Italy goalkeeper.

It was a sweet moment for the West Ham skipper, a neat riposte to critics who say he does not score enough goals. This was a big one.

another criticism aimed at rice is that he does not play enough decisive passes. Midway through the half, he streamed out of defence again and spread the ball wide to Kane on the right. Kane drove his cross into the six-yard-box where Bellingham flung himself at it but could not quite reach it. Bellingham, once more, was dominating the game, looking like a class above anyone on the pitch.

england wasted an opportunity to go further ahead when Jorginho lost the ball deep inside his own half and Phillips advanced on goal. Kane had lost his marker and was waiting for Phillips to slip the ball to him but Phillips chose to shoot instead and the ball went just wide. Kane did not hide his displeasure.

The displeasure soon faded. Four minutes before half-time, Kane jostled with Di Lorenzo at the back post as Saka swung over a corner from the right. as the ball dropped, it hit Di Lorenzo on the arm and, after a Var check, Serbian referee Srdjan Jovanovic awarded a penalty.

Kane stepped up and dispatched the penalty as coolly as you like before wheeling away to celebrate

the record with his team-mates. Then on the stroke of half-time, Kane proved again that he is so much more than a goalscorer.

He escaped down the right and bore down on goal but instead of shooting from a tight angle, he squared the ball unselfishly for Grealish.

Grealish had an open goal but, for once, he got his technique all wrong and sliced the ball wide. Kane held his head in his hands in disbelief.

Ten minutes after half-time, though, England allowed Italy back in to the game. Harry Maguire gave the ball away deep in his own half, scythed down Nicolo Barella as he tried to clear up his own mess and then had to watch as the ball was worked to Retegui, who had run in to the space Maguire should have been occupying. Retegui took one touch and then drilled his shot low past Jordan Pickford.

Now the stadium, which had been subdued by England’s dominance, came alive. Now Italy threw everything at England, who started to lose their shape and some of their discipline.

Kane was lucky not to add a booking to his evening when he took a flying lunge at Di Lorenzo as he galloped down the right wing but missed him completely. England, so comfortable for so long, were now clinging on to their lead.

Shaw’s dismissal compounded the situation and England were once again open to accusations that they had sat back and allowed a team back into a game.

This time, though, they closed the game out.

EURO 2024

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2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-24T07:00:00.0000000Z

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