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4th June 2024
10:39am BST
Gareth Southgate admitted that he denied an audacious request from Harry Kane during the Euros warm-up match against Bosnia last night.
Kane entered the pitch in the 62nd minute, however he was itching to be substituted on just a couple minutes earlier.
This was due to the fact that England were awarded a penalty and Kane inevitably wanted to take it, adding to his all-time Three Lions goal tally.
Cole Palmer instead took the penalty & confidently converted, meaning his perfect record from the spot this season was maintained.
Southgate, speaking to Radio 5 Live revealed his carefully crafted plan to ease Kane into the pre-Euro preparation: “Our plan today was half an hour and he’ll start on Friday. He had the audacity to ask to come on and to score the penalty which was never going to happen! The great thing is we’ve got through the last few days with no problems.”
Kane resultantly came on shortly after Palmer slotted home, before a ruthless Trent Alexander-Arnold volley gave England clear daylight.
A comfortable win was then secured after Kane sealed the deal with a close-range strike, before expressing his excitement of getting started in England’s Euros campaign.
Speaking to Channel 4, he said: “I’m feeling good. A lot of the end of season was precaution. There was a big summer coming up so we didn’t want to take risks with it. In the end, it was a good chance to get a good break at the end of a tough season,”
Obviously, we’ve been in camp now for a week. I’ve had a good week training, some minutes here. I’m sure I’ll get some minutes on Friday and I’ll be ready to go for the group stage. I feel fine. I’m not someone who takes too long to get sharp.”
Southgate will be hoping his top-scorer can spearhead the Three Lions to glory soon in Germany & he’s undoubtedly raring to go.
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