England U21s at Odds with Harry Kane in Euro Opening-Day Defeat to Portugal

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: June 18, 2015

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There was one moment in Thursday night's England vs. Portugal Under-21 European Championships game in which Harry Kane looked like the striker who had taken the Premier League by storm last season. 

When the Tottenham Hotspur goalscorer picked up the ball in the 34th minute, he turned with absolute ease and unleashed a thunderous, curling effort that stung the gloves of Jose Sa from around 25 yards out. This was the striker around whom Gareth Southgate had built his team this summer and the one who would win games for his country.

Unfortunately, that was really all we saw of Kane on the night, as England stumbled to a 1-0 defeat to Portugal in an evenly contested match between two of the tournament's most well-regarded sides. 

It was the wide midfielder Joao Mario who grabbed the all-important goal for Rui Jorge's side in the 57th minute when Bernardo Silva found himself with time and space in the box only to smash a shot off Jack Butland's post. Mario, who was standing on the far post unmarked, then happily tapped the ball into an empty goal.

Yet the move that led to the goal was one that Portugal had practised a dozen times in front of a structured, defensive English side. From the first moment, Silva, Mario and the highly touted William Carvalho threw themselves at England's defence. It was a far cry from what was happening down the other end of the pitch.



Jorge's side was one that was clearly built for one purpose—to score goals—and that contrasted with the sober heads of England for the full 90 minutes. 

Although Southgate's side started brightly with Nathan Redmond down the right, Jesse Lingard down the left and Tom Carroll through the middle all causing problems, each attack seemed to come to a halt whenever the midfield tried to link up with their lone striker. Kane was either too deep or stuck receiving the ball on...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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