1. The England-Slovenia clash in Cologne (2am, June 26) requires more than just a football match result, as many await one of the most inexplicable teams since EURO 2024 began.
Gareth Southgate and his team went from being considered the number 1 candidate for the championship to disappointment. The criticism kept coming.
Things escalated when the seemingly trivial issue became a noisy argument between Harry Kane - the current captain and record goalscorer for England - and Gary Lineker, the captain in the 1990s, fourth on the list of goalscorers and now earning money as a commentator.
Tensions are running high around England despite them topping Group C and having already secured a place in the last 16.
After a 1–1 draw with Denmark , Lineker summed up the tournament's most valuable team's performance as "a dump" .
When Lineker took his comments to the legendary Alan Shearer on The Rest si Football podcast, dozens of journalists and analysts came to such blunt conclusions to express their opinions and the English game.
Lineker's statement created shock waves, causing an unusual move from Blankenhain, where the "Three Lions" are stationed.
2. Harry Kane, instead of waiting for the official press conference before the Slovenia match (set by UEFA for Monday), decided to appear a day earlier.
The England captain met the media on Sunday (European time) and appeared uncomfortable with Lineker's harsh comments .
"I never disrespected any player who has gone before me," Kane began. "Former players who are now commentators have to realise that it's not easy to listen to them. They have to understand that they have a responsibility. People take what they say seriously."
Despite his restraint, Kane allowed himself to take a swipe at the past figure attacking the current squad, with the Bayern Munich striker implying that Lineker had not won a trophy with the national team either.
"Everyone has their opinion, but the fact is England haven't won a trophy for a long time, and a lot of the critics are part of that. So they understand how difficult it is."
Lineker was not convinced by Kane's argument. He returned to the debate on his podcast on Monday.
"Can you imagine if we said: 'Well, I think the team played very well'? We were lying from the start because they didn't play well and Harry knew that."
Alan Shearer maintained his view that England were not playing well, but did not use harsh words.
"I'm not going to take back anything we said. The team played very badly, I think most of the journalists and the whole country knew that, even the people in the team: they played poorly against Denmark."
Kane did not deny: "Have I reached my best form? Not yet, but in the group stage of EURO and the World Cup, I did not score and then I improved."
3. In an era where the media is growing, Harry Kane and the current generation of English players are becoming victims of legends. This also happens with the Premier League.
Harry Kane holds the record of 64 goals for England. The former Tottenham striker has scored in every major tournament he has played in since 2018: 6 goals at the 2018 World Cup, 4 at EURO 2020, 2 at the 2022 World Cup and 1 goal in Germany.
With 13 goals in major tournaments, Kane has scored more than any other England player. In the EUROs alone, Harry now has five goals, equal to Wayne Rooney and just seven short of Shearer's record.
What about Lineker? He scored in 6 matches at EURO 1988 and 1992 (as captain). As a result, the "Three Lions" finished bottom of the group in both these events.
In 1990, England finished fourth at the World Cup with Lineker scoring four goals. In Russia 2018, Kane helped the Three Lions repeat this feat with more goals.
In the summer of 2021, England reached the EURO final for the first time in history, something Lineker could not do and neither could Shearer.
Analysis is necessary to point out limitations and improve from there. But attacking with strong, sometimes obscene words like Lineker used is unfair to Kane.
Kane's frustration recalls the statements Jose Mourinho has made many times: "In England, there are many former players who only appear spectacularly on television, but when they get down to work, they don't get anywhere and soon have to leave."
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Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/euro-2024-harry-kane-noi-gian-va-loi-that-mourinho-2295085.html
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