Former Super Eagles midfielder, Austine Okocha has attributed England’s Harry Kane’s penalty miss against France to his inability to calm his nerves.
Recall that Kane had fired England level from the spot after Bukayo Saka was brought down by France’s first goal scorer, Aurelien Tchouameni.
Tchouameni scored a stunner from outside the box to give France the lead against England, and Olivier Giroud made it 2-1 with a close-range header.
Harry Kane had the opportunity to level the game for the Three Lions again from the spot after Mason Mount was brought down in the box by Hernandez, but the Tottenham captain played the ball over the bar.
“I thought he was nervous. His nerves got the best of him. Penalty is a mind game, especially when you have scored one.
“You start wondering ‘should I go to the same corner, should I change anything’. Actually he was caught in two minds. But take nothing away from Les Bleus. They came with a game plan,” Okocha said on SuperSport.
2 Comments
Thank God it was Kane that missed the penalty. If it was Bukayo Saka or Bellingham or Sterling the story would be different and they would have been receiving death threats by now just like during Euro 2022.
Truth is any player can miss a penalty and no player should be judged should the unavoidable happens.
Quite so. Taking penalties is a separate and unique skill and only a gifted few are consistently capable.