Golden Boot favourite Harry Kane turns in listless display as England slump to Belgium defeat

Aditya Devavrat 08:54 15/07/2018
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  • Harry Kane's World Cup came to an end with a quiet display.

    Harry Kane‘s World Cup came to an end on Saturday with an ineffectual display as England lost the third-place game to Belgium 2-0.

    Kane was unable to add to his tally of six goals for the tournament, though he’s still the frontrunner to win the Golden Boot.

    Here’s a closer look at the England captain’s performance against Belgium.

    KEY STATS

    Goals – 0

    Shots – 2

    Shots on target – 0

    Pass accuracy – 100%

    Key Passes – 0

    Dribbles – 0

    Touches – 26

    30-SECOND REPORT

    Saturday’s middling display concluded a strange World Cup for Kane, who will likely go home with the Golden Boot having never truly lit up the tournament. In a way the striker’s performance here summed up his team’s as a whole in Russia – full of admirable effort, but not good enough to truly threaten a stronger team.

    GOT RIGHT

    Kane had a 100% accuracy on his passing, one of the few bright spots of his display on Saturday. He rarely attempted anything too expansive, but his link-up play was statistically perfect. In fact, he may be entitled to complain at the service he received, given how well he was able to find his team-mates throughout the game.

    GOT WRONG

    Kane was barely involved in the final third – his 26 touches were the joint-lowest of anyone on the pitch from the two starting XIs, alongside England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. Given this was a chance to lead England to their best-ever World Cup finish since 1966, and end his own tournament on a high, it was a strangely limp display from the captain.

    VERDICT

    There are days when Kane’s effort masks the shortcomings in his display, and this was one of those days. The Tottenham striker clearly tried hard, but couldn’t get involved enough to have a true impact on this game. Belgium’s defence nullified his threat and he could do little about it as England’s thrilling World Cup came to a limp end.

    In fairness, though, and if reports are correct, Kane was hampered by a niggling injury problem throughout.

    RATING – 6/10

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