The world stood still, all eyes glued to the sphere that had found a will of its own and all the desperate pleas of the English could not bring it down from the celestial orbit it was following. Harry Kane had the chance to right the wrongs that England perceived, but the scorer of 53 international goals might now forever be haunted by the one miss that sent England home after a 2-1 defeat to France.
Brazilian Wilton Sampio, called “a joke” by a former English player and another of the many pundits here, was again corrected by VAR and England had a penalty to restore parity after Oliver Giroud, who after missing a few, had edged France ahead as he normally does.
The English captain had earlier in the night beaten his Tottenham leader from the spot, and he was looking for an encore, but destiny was about to deal him a cruel hand. Kane, for a moment, forgot this was football and not his beloved cricket. His shot flew high into the stands, much like the sixes of his friend Virat Kohli. (The two are regulars on each other’s Instagram feeds.)
But England played here, not stricken by the sight of Kylian Mbappe running in full throttle. It matched the world champions stride for stride and Kyle Walker, the guardian of England’s right, lost just one sprint battle this night.
The Three Lions, however, were a goal down after 17 minutes of play, Tchouameniannouncing he too is a star with a rasping 25-yard drive that came as a surprise. Jordan Pickford was a second late to dive and the ball hurtled past his extended right arm. The Bayern Minich midfielder had started the move with a steal – and no, Bukayo Saka was not fouled – to pass it on to Mbappe stationed on the left, who shuttled it to the right. When Antoine Griezmann played it back to Tchouameni, the English defenders were busy cutting the angles for a pass and not expecting a shot.
England was not broken by this sudden goal that came and Saka found Kane, who turned past the Upamecano to test Lloris from a tight angle. The French goalkeeper kept scurrying as England fired a barrage of long-rangers. He parried one from Kane and did better to get a fingertip to a rising effort from the young Jude Bellingham.
Saka with his twists and turns was becoming a nuisance and for Tchouameni this was becoming unbearable. His hanging leg brought the Arsenal winger down as he again dribbled in from the right flank. VAR intervention was not needed for England to get its penalty but Kane, despite a nervous pause, won this first all-Spurs duel.
Midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni scores from a low kick to open the scoring for France. Photo Credit: REUTERS
England striker Harry Kane equalises, scoring from a penalty kick as France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris dives to his left. Photo Credit: REUTERS
Olivier Giroud scores France’s winner from a header as England defender Harry Maguire tries to knock him down. Photo Credit: AFP
Harry Kane wastes a chance to level the match for England as he fails to score from a penalty kick. Photo Credit: Getty Images
Adrien Rabiot, top, and Olivier Giroud celebrate after Harry Kane misses the penalty kick. Photo Credit: AP
Harry Kane looks dejected after the match as England is eliminated from the Qatar World Cup. Photo Credit: REUTERS
Walker soon realised that no legs were a match for Mbappe’s pace as the French striker jetted past him to play a cross in the middle. But unfortunately, his teammates were not as fast, and the cutback had no takers. Giroud came close with a volley aimed at the bottom left but Pickford was adept at palming it away. But soon France’s all-time leading goal scorer rose above Harry Maguire to smash home a header from a Griezmann floater.
And then the penalty came as Theo Hernandez surged from behind into an explosive Mason Mount and VAR had a hand in changing Senhor Sampaio mind. The English fans were gleefully waiting to see this game extend into extra-time, but their hopes flew out with the ball that Kane sent soaring into the Al Bayt night sky.
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