The striker scored twice to lead the Three Lions to their second consecutive semi-final in a major tournament
Harry Kane says England will be inspired by their 2018 World Cup semi-final loss as they can now look ahead to another chance to move into the finale of an international tournament.
Kane scored two of England’s four goals on Saturday as the Three Lions crushed Ukraine 4-0 to book a date with Denmark in the Euro 2020 final four.
Winning that game would move England into a final against Italy or Spain, but Kane says this team knows how hard it is to emerge from a semi-final after falling to Croatia in the World Cup just three years ago.
What was said?
“Fantastic performance from everybody,” said Kane, who scored inside the first five minutes of either half. “A perfect night, a perfect start. Ukraine created a few problems for us in the following minutes.
“But we came out with fire after the break and afterwards we kept the ball good. We are on the right track. What a moment to be involved in. We have to recover now and take the confidence from the game.”
He continued: “We know how much it hurts to not go to the final. We have a vision of where we want to be, and this is winning a tournament. We want to do the fans, our friends and family proud.
“What a moment for us as a team and as a nation. It’s an opportunity, we have to grab with both hands.”
Southgate opens up on selection decisions
Heading into the game, manager Gareth Southgate was the target of some criticism after opting to start Jadon Sancho ahead of Jack Grealish.
The Aston Villa man had sparked England’s Round of 16 win over Germany, helping set up both goals in the 2-0 win.
Sancho, meanwhile, had played sparingly, but it was the newly-signed Manchester United man who joined Kane and Raheem Sterling in the attack.
And Southgate says that decisions like that are what make his job so hard, as he feels he has a squad full of players that can step up when called upon.
“The players have been fantastic. To play as well as they did in a game with so much resting on it was impressive,” he told BBC One.
“It’s a strange feeling. I’m thinking of the lads we didn’t get on the pitch – Conor Coady, Ben Chilwell, Sam Johnstone, Aaron Ramsdale, they’re the ones making this team successful. The spirit in the group is phenomenal.
“Whoever comes in does the job, whoever isn’t in – it is really difficult to leave three out of the matchday squad – the squad mentality is fantastic. That’s uppermost in my mind, looking after those guys.
“I’m spending more energy worrying about the three I have to leave out because they’re all good players. None of them deserve to be left out. They’re all giving everything in training. None of it is because I don’t think they’re up to the level but we have to make the decisions.
“We have to make the right call for the right game with the right system. All of the players have been brilliant, tonight all the way through the group they’ve been fantastic.”
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