Can Kane keep saving England?
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The Athletic FC.
Hi there and welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal. So Captain Kane saves England once again. Controversy for the USA as Balogun sees red after scoring against Bosnia and Herzegovina. And Belgium bounce back in spectacular style to see off Senegal. Well, here in the studio, we have the Athletics' Karl Anka and Liam Toomey. And we have to be honest, this could have been a very, very different podcast, but for the wonderful Harry Kane.
Kane!
Kane!
Kane could get a shot in.
Oh, yes.
Did Harry Kane single-handedly rescue England vs DR Congo and is he England's greatest ever player?
Oh, yes. England have never needed their captain more.
Yep. Dump the running order. Inquest pod. Yeah.
That was close. That was close.
A little too close for my liking.
Yes. Yeah, it was. So USA, Belgium and England through to the round of 16. England coming from behind to beat DR Congo 2-1. Captain Kane saving the day, as we said. Witnessed in Atlanta by Jack Pitbrook.
It was a very strange game. I thought that England were so poor for certainly the first 20 minutes when they went 1-0 down. It really felt quite a lot like Iceland at that point. England then turned around second half of the first half, got back in the game, had a lot of chances. But really they needed Harry Kane as ever to sort it out for them at the end. He equalised with a header and then scored a brilliant second. And I think it's only fair to say after this game that Kane is probably England's greatest ever player. That's 84 England goals now, 20 in major tournaments. And England's chances of doing anything at this World Cup rest entirely on his shoulders. But I think on the other side of the argument, England was so poor again defensively for long stretches here.
They conceded early on. Johan Wisser hit the post at the end of the first half that would have made it 2-0 to DR Congo and I think it would have been very difficult for England to come back from that. And I think anyone who's seen England defend in the last few games, I mean they conceded so many chances against Panama, even against Ghana they should have conceded a penalty and I imagine that will probably come back to bite them at some point in this tournament. Maybe it'll be Mexico in the last 16, maybe it'll be Brazil in the quarter-finals, but I don't think this England defence is good enough to win a World Cup. I think part of that problem is individuals. The defenders they have out on the pitch are not necessarily top players.
I think it's also structure. England are not as good as they used to be at pressing the opposition to stop them from attacking. So that's probably the biggest worry that I have as I prepare to go to Mexico for the last 16.
So yeah, Jack covering the good, the bad and the ugly of England. But let's start with the good, shall we? Let's start with Harry Kane. Jack calling him England's greatest ever player. Here's some stats for you. 84 goals in 118 caps, 31 more goals than any other Englishman. Closing in on the all-time appearance record, which has been held for a very, very long time by Peter Shilton. He scored 20 goals in major tournaments, 13 in World Cups, joint sixth on the all-time list. Jack is right, isn't he? That he's the greatest ever England player?
Certainly on the volume argument. I mean, there will always be people that will argue he hasn't got a tournament win to his name. Maybe that changes this summer. Doesn't look super likely at this point. But if you just look at the goals, the longevity, I think, and... increasingly him showing up when he's needed most, which I think we're so unused to seeing an England superstar be a superstar in the biggest moments. And he rescued England against Congo. Greatest ever?
Great, it's over the 21st century, I'll say. I think when the chips are down and the lights are bright, Harry Kane is there. In the cold, in the dark, Harry Kane is there. When you're in the little bit of the ocean where your feet can't quite touch the ground, Harry Kane is there.
It sounds like this could be an England song. It could be.
Could be. It hasn't always worked. He had a very poor Euro 2024 by his lofty standards.
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