England’s forward #09 Harry Kane receives a silver medal and walks past the trophy at the end of the UEFA Euro 2024 final football match between Spain and England at the Olympiastadion in Berlin on July 14, 2024. (Photo by JAVIER SORIANO / AFP)
England captain Harry Kane said Sunday’s 2-1 Euro 2024 final loss to Spain, the Three Lions’ second-successive defeat in the tournament’s showpiece game, will “hurt for a long time.”
England lost the Euro 2020 final on penalties to Italy at Wembley, having made it to the semifinals of the World Cup two years earlier.
England was also eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup by eventual finalists France, with Kane missing a late penalty.
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Speaking with ITV, the England captain, who was subbed off after 60 minutes, said the latest major tournament heartbreak after Spain’s late winner was “tough to take”.
“It’s hard to put into words how we’re all feeling right now… We did well to get back into the game and struggled to build on that,” added Kane.
Spain lost Rodri to injury at halftime but took the lead just two minutes into the second half, Lamine Yamal drifting in from the left to find Nico Williams, who cut the ball under England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
Cole Palmer equalized three minutes after coming on as a substitute to give England hope but Mikel Oyarzabal scored the winner with four minutes remaining.
“We’ve been coming from behind all tournament, we’ve got it in the locker. We didn’t take the next step and win it,” Kane said.
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“The second half was better and we got the goal. We got caught with a cross and that’s the final.”
Despite a stellar individual career with numerous goalscoring honors, the 30-year-old Kane is yet to win a team trophy.
Prior to Sunday’s match, Kane said he would gladly “swap everything in my career” for Euros glory.
The forward finished with three goals at the tournament, the equal most, but struggled with a back injury.
“It’s an opportunity missed. These finals aren’t easy to get to. You have to take it when it comes and we haven’t done it again.
“It’s extremely painful and it’ll hurt for a long time.”
Asked about the future of England manager Gareth Southgate, Kane said the man who had been in charge since late 2016 would “go away and take time to decide”.
“We wanted to win it for him.”