{"id":16461,"date":"2018-06-19T04:50:26","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T08:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonsoccer.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/2018\/06\/19\/harry-kane-im-absolutely-buzzing\/"},"modified":"2018-06-19T04:50:26","modified_gmt":"2018-06-19T08:50:26","slug":"harry-kane-im-absolutely-buzzing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2018\/06\/19\/harry-kane-im-absolutely-buzzing\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Kane: \u201cI\u2019m absolutely buzzing\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

England hero Harry Kane gushed with national pride as he spoke of his team\u2019s performance and his own following England\u2019s dramatic last-gasp 2-1 victory over Tunisia in their opening group game of the 2018 World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m absolutely buzzing\u201d<\/h1>\n

Making his World Cup debut, Captain Kane netted twice, the second clinching the game in the dying minutes of the match. When asked to sum up the night and the team\u2019s efforts he told BBC Sport<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“Yeah it\u2019s massive. I\u2019m proud of the lads you know and it\u2019s been tough. I thought we played really well especially in the first half, we deserved to be ahead. Okay, we maybe should have scored a few more. Obviously I\u2019ve not seen the penalty back, but in my opinion, it didn\u2019t look like one. But credit to the lads, we kept going, that\u2019s what these games are about. It\u2019s a World Cup, and you keep going to the last second. So yeah, I\u2019m absolutely buzzing.”<\/p>\n

From Cubs to Lions?<\/h2>\n

The team, as Kane said, showed good character. They shook off the questionable penalty that gifted Tunisia the equaliser, and not settling for the draw. Tunisia defended much better in the second half and deserve credit for containing the English attack. It was clear lessons were learned from the disastrous European campaign of 2016. When asked what had changed in England\u2019s resolve since then, Kane replied:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve done it for a while now since the gaffer\u2019s (Gareth Southgate<\/a>) has been here. He\u2019s really installed that into us. We\u2019ve spoke a lot about togetherness, and we\u2019ve got a great bond off the pitch. So it\u2019s nice, to get it on the pitch as well in the first game, and to see it working. And that\u2019s everyone, staff included we\u2019re all delighted that we played well. We are really happy tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tough Tactics From Tunisia<\/h2>\n

Kane, at times, found himself tangling with more than one Tunisian player. At one point, one player given the \u2018soft\u2019 penalty awarded against England for Kyle Walker\u2019s stray arm, the North Africans could be considered lucky that their shirt pulling and grabbing went largely unnoticed by the referee. When asked if the referee had been one-sided during the match, he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there could have been a couple of penalties, especially when you look at their one. Also from corners, we had so little joy, they were grabbing hold\u00a0and trying to stop us running. So yeah maybe there was justice at the end to get one from the back post. But you know that\u2019s football, and that the ref. It shows good character to get on with it, and that\u2019s what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Good Trip Out For Kieran<\/h3>\n

Harry Kane may have been the hero of the night but there were other excellent performances, like that of his Tottenham teammate Kieran Trippier. Right-back Trippier arguably put in his best England shift, defending well and placing some superb balls into the forwards. When asked about his comrade\u2019s performances Kane replied:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud you know. We\u2019ve done a lot of work on the training field. Obviously, we’re here now, but we\u2019ve been watching other games and been itching to play. Like I say it\u2019s tough, it\u2019s the World Cup, especially the first game. Get the nerves out of the way, the excitement, you\u2019ve got to contain it. I thought we played really well and I\u2019m so, so proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was some controversy over Kane\u2019s appointment as captain of the Three Lions, some favouring Jordan Henderson for the role. Ergo, the boy from Enfield will be delighted that his first 90 minutes wearing the armband included a win and two goals.<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>