Harry Kane needed to struggle again the tears after England crashed out of the World Cup towards France on Sunday morning.
There was “utter devastation” for the England crew as the ultimate whistle was blown — and the heartbreak was all summed up in a single picture.
England keeper Jordan Pickford and substitute Kieran Trippier have been seen racing over to assist Kane and defend him from TV cameras as he collapsed to the turf.
Gareth Southgate’s aspect have been defeated 2-1 because the reigning world champions clinched their place within the semi-finals — the place they’ll face Morocco after the African nation knocked out Portugal.
Captain Kane blew a late alternative to attract England stage and ship the sport to extra-time when he blazed a spot-kick over the bar, The Sun experiences
That was after he had scored an earlier penalty to equal Wayne Rooney’s report because the nation’s all-time high scorer.
And after the whistle he slumped to the turf in a crouched place and introduced a hand over his face as he struggled to become familiar with England’s exit.
Various his heartbroken colleagues raced over to him whereas supervisor Southgate, who famously missed a penalty on the Euros in 1996, additionally gave him a hug and provided some phrases to his talisman.
France goalie Hugo Lloris, a teammate of Kane’s at Tottenham, additionally went to console the striker earlier than the Three Lions skipper trudged off in the direction of the dressing-room.
England keeper Jordan Pickford was additionally noticed ushering a cameraman away as they tried to get shut and movie Kane in his second of despair.
BBC correspondent Juliette Ferrington noticed the scene unfold.
“Harry Kane’s teammates politely asked for the camera operators to move away from him because he was inconsolable,” she stated.
“Jude Bellingham had his shirt over his face and was lying on his back before he got to his feet. When Rashford’s free-kick went over Harry Kane looked to the sky.”
Elsewhere, teenage midfield sensation Jude Bellingham was in tears and his new pal Jordan Henderson was pressured to place an arm round his shoulder to consolation him. The Borussia Dortmund man was then noticed nonetheless crying as he too headed down the tunnel.
Henderson was the primary star to courageous the cameras, telling ITV: “It is hard now to sum it up, it is hard to find the right words.
“I thought we gave everything in the game, we were disappointed to go 1-0 down but we showed the character and mentality to keep going and find the equaliser.
“We gave it everything and unfortunately it wasn’t our night.”
And on Kane’s penalty miss, he added: “We know how many penalties Harry has scored for us, how many goals he has contributed to even get us here.
“He will be stronger for this in the future. He is a world-class striker and our captain, he will bounce back.”
Southgate about Kane: “He’s been incredible for us and so reliable in these situations. And we wouldn’t be here without him.
“In the end goals are decisive but I’ve said to the players that I don’t think they could have given anymore.
Congratulations to France, they know that they’ve been in a hell of a game.”
England’s highest-profile pundits and commentators have been surprisingly mild of their evaluation of the outcome and have been largely filled with reward for the crew.
They additionally shared Kane’s heartbreak.
Legendary soccer commentator Martin Tyler stated on SBS: “Kane looks to the ground in total dismay. He can’t believe what he’s done”.
Sky Sports’ Peter Smith stated: “Kane looks absolutely devastated. There are tears in his eyes. It’s hard to believe he blazed that penalty over. He’s usually so good from 12 yards”.
— This story initially appeared on thesun.co.uk and has been republished with permission
