TThis was not Harry’s game. Not for him, not for England, not this tournament. And perhaps, as they recover from that disastrous, anti-climactic night in Berlin, they will acknowledge that something has indeed changed forever. The sight of Harry Kane taking off his armband in the 61st minute, handing it to Kyle Walker and running to be replaced by Ollie Watkins, was a strangely moving end to his summer. No one expected him to play this part in breaking his individual trophy drought and ending his country’s curse.
As Spain celebrated in the centre circle, Kane stood expressionless in the technical area, collecting his emotions before pacing around his grieving teammates. He had hoped to reach the pinnacle of his life’s work here but on the day before the final, all the goals and personal accolades he’d offered in exchange for team success had to be left unsaid.
A consideration for Gareth Southgate, or his successor, may be that England have looked livelier and fresher in his few weeks away. Cole Palmer’s moments of brilliance may not have prevented Spain from winning a well-deserved title, but his influence, and the movement of a lively Watkins, may have pointed to things to come.
Two and a half hours ago, it still seemed possible. The England bus arrived at 7:29pm, drove past the woods and training pitches that surround the Olympiastadion, and dropped its passengers off at its doors. Kane was the first to emerge, five seconds before anyone else, and impressively, walked towards the dressing rooms without looking back.
This is business. A pre-match walk around cemented that impression. With the Spanish players already mingling on the halfway line, Kane stepped forward again to lead England into the action. The players were still there when Kane led England out again after a brief lap around the lawn. The captain’s message was clear: let’s postpone sightseeing in this strange, historic, uncomfortable venue.
Was Kane, in those few minutes, trying to visualize a moment that might change the narrative of his entire career? It’s one of the ways he likes to prepare – thinking about moves that will go down in history: the touches, the turns, the sprints to the near post, the knee-high leaps and twists in the air. He had spoken earlier this week of England’s “aura,” the brilliance and control that comes with learning that semi-finals and finals are not necessarily unknowns.
Kane’s problem was that his own inevitability was fading. England hadn’t gotten this far despite him, but they needed new faces to solve old problems. That Kane’s agent, Ivan Toney, and the newly history-making Watkins have done more to change the course of their epic journey here feels significant and new.
By half-time there was an awkward feeling that England might need such an intervention again. The game was going largely to plan; the wise judgement was that the longer the score remained tied, the more likely England were to win. Spain were largely limited by misdirected crosses and Ramin Yamal looked vague and inaccurate. But Kane was not leading England’s attack and it was no surprise when he had not touched the ball after 20 minutes.
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He then received a yellow card for a follow-through on Aymeric Laporte.The game was thin for England, especially in the early stages as Spain looked to have wanted to end the game quickly.England needed to apply all the pressure they could, but Bukayo Saka turned down a chance to find Kyle Walker and Phil Foden was caught off balance when free at the far post.
Kane finally had a chance to shoot just before the end of the game when a disgruntled Jude Bellingham forced a mistake from Dani Carvajal. He said that if he thought hard enough, he could remember each of the 406 goals he had scored in his career. There were certainly plenty of them from that distance, on the edge of the penalty area, but Rodri slammed in to block it, the picture he had painted on his previous walk splattered with red and navy blue.
From England’s perspective, Kane at least unintentionally caused Rodri’s dismissal, tilting the scales in their favour and their captain’s favour too. But what were Kane and Phil Foden thinking when, instead of pressing and pulling away, they allowed substitute Martin Zvimendi to wander between them and set up the move that led to Nico Williams’ seamless opener?
There was an elephant in the room, but England fans addressed it by roaring Watkins’ name in the 57th minute. And yet the speed of Southgate’s reaction was shocking. Wednesday night’s hero remained calm, and the cruel joke might be that Kane, realising the gravity of the situation, moved with more purpose than when his number was called at any point that night. Five minutes from the end, as England fans erupted in applause, Kane’s name was read out as one of six players to share the Euro 2024 Golden Boot. But the personal and collective grief here was grim.
