"
He's fine.
He worked a little more individually today, but he will be back with the team tomorrow and everything is going well for the game
,” coach Gareth Southgate said in an interview with ITV.
Kane suffered a knock on the ankle in a tackle against Iran in the 50th minute of the game, which did not prevent him from playing another 25 minutes before being substituted.
"
I (held my breath) when he fell to the ground, but once he continued to play, everything was fine
", assured the coach, even if the player had been spared afterwards and had passed a scanner Wednesday.
To discover
Download the Le Figaro Sport application and follow the adventure of the Blues in Qatar
World Cup: group classification
Full World Cup match schedule
Read alsoWorld Cup: fright for the English, Harry Kane will pass a scanner
“
We just checked to be sure (…) but everything is fine
”, assured Southgate.
“
It wasn't so much the ankle as the foot.
It was a bad tackle, really, but it's one that we luckily get away with without too much damage.
“, continued the coach, relieved, while a victory against the Americans, after the offensive demonstration against Iran (6-2), would send his team to the round of 16.
If Kane did not score against the Iranians, leaving his young partners to shine on the scoreboard, he was, as often, valuable in the distribution and construction of actions, delivering two assists for Raheem Sterling on the 3-0 (45 + 1) and Marcus Rashford on the 5-1 (71st), four minutes before his exit.
The England squad had maintained an almost total blur of his precise state of health since the first game, opening the door to speculation about his presence on Friday.
Before this match which could qualify them, against the opponent a priori the strongest of group B, the "
lying poker
" of the English was fair game.
But it also shows, implicitly, the importance of this player.
“
When Harry came out, Callum (Wilson) came in and played very well, giving an assist to Jack (Grealish, on the 6-1), being very selfless.
Everyone trains hard.
Everyone is there for a reason, to play
, ”said goalkeeper Jordan Pickford on Wednesday.
"
But obviously Harry is an incredible player, he sets an example in the group, he's the captain, the leader, and we all admire him
," he continued.
Sir 35%
A look at the win rate of the English with (61.8%) or without (61.9%) their captain could suggest that his absence does not change much.
But his importance in the Three Lions' attacking production is however firmly attested by the figures: with 51 goals in 76 caps, he has scored 35% of the goals scored by the selection in the matches he has played since his debut in March 2015 .
With him, England scored 2.2 goals per game over this period compared to 1.8 when he was absent.
However, if there is one sector where England has options, it is in front.
If Callum Wilson, the only other pure central striker, who has also had individualized training since the game against Iran, were not to be available, Gareth Southgate would still have to choose between Marcus Rashford in point or Phil Foden, in a role more “
false nines
”.
A dilemma that many breeders would dream of having to decide.
