Football
ESPN staff 7y

Harry Kane: 'Special day' to captain England, net late equaliser vs. Scotland

Harry Kane reflected on a "sweet" end to his first game as England captain after the Tottenham forward netted an equaliser deep into stoppage time to deny Scotland a famous victory in their World Cup qualifying clash at Hampden Park.

The 114th meeting of international football's oldest foes was a naturally tense affair, with the hosts looking to keep their dreams of reaching Russia alive as Gareth Southgate's men attempted to tighten their grip on top spot.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked to have set England on course for victory, only for Celtic forward Leigh Griffiths to level with a late free kick and repeat the trick moments later. However, Kane slammed in at the far post deep into stoppage time to break the hearts of the Tartan Army.

"[The goal] is definitely up at the top, it was a special day," Kane said on ITV. "It looked like we were going to win the game and then like we were going to lose when 2-1 down in stoppage time.

"To get the goal was special. I was just thinking to get good contact on it, I did not know whether the keeper was going to come, so when I saw him stay on his line... what a ball it in was, and it was just a good side foot into the net."

England trained with the Royal Marines in the build up to the match, and Kane praised the determination of the squad.

He added: "We said we had to expect the unexpected. We were in control at 1-0 up and then all of a sudden 2-1 down and it looks as if you are going away losers.

"You have to somehow find another gear and now it is not a bad point away from home. Obviously we wanted to win the game, there is no doubt about that, but we got a point, are still top of the [qualifying] league.

"Scotland is no easy place to come, and especially when you are 2-1 down in stoppage time, it makes it that much sweeter.

"I definitely did not want to lose in my first game as skipper, so to get that goal, it is a good day for us and a very proud day for me as well."

Griffiths felt Scotland had done themselves proud, despite not being able to hold on for what would have been a famous win.

"At 1-0 down against England, it is always going to be a tough ask to get back into the game, but we showed resilience and what we are all about by getting ourselves back into it and then into the lead," he said on ITV. "But you cant switch off against this England side, because they will punish you and that is what they did in the end.

"We have to keep the ball better, because we were [breaking] in a three-on-one attack. If we had kept the ball better going towards their goal we might have nicked the three points, but you can't switch off against this England side with guys like Harry Kane up top.

"We proved that on our day we can match anybody. We know how good this England side are, playing them at Wembley in November we didn't do ourselves justice, but today we showed what we are all about."

The Celtic man added: "I am delighted to get off the mark for Scotland, in what could have been a great win, but in the end this could be a great point for us. We have four games left and we could win all of them."

England manager Southgate felt his men let the match get away from them, although praised their spirit to recover.

"It was a game we should win and were in total control of, but two moments of brilliant quality from them turned it on its head in seconds," he said. "But we should never be beaten -- we have got to have a mentality where we are never beaten, and we showed that at the end

"The first free kick was careless, the second [given away] was a slip, so I am not sure there is a lot we could have done about that.

"I thought we came into a hostile atmosphere and controlled the game completely, we should have been further ahead, but if you don't get the second goal, you run the risk of an equaliser at any point."

He added: "I think that is fair [we need to be more clinical]. We had moments where we got into really good positions in the final third and you have got to take the finish. But we played a team with five at the back, tried to frustrate which is understandable from their point of view.

"We got ourselves into decent positions, but could not finish. However, the objective is to qualify and we still sit top of the group."

^ Back to Top ^