Harry Kane has bemoaned a painful week in which he saw hopes of winning the Champions League and Nations League dashed but has urged his England teammates to use their disappointment in Portugal as motivation at next summer’s European Championship.
The England captain made his first appearance in eight weeks after ankle ligament damage in Tottenham’s defeat by Liverpool in Madrid last Saturday. His leggy display betrayed a player shorn of match sharpness and he began the Nations League semi-final against the Netherlands on the bench, replacing the injured Marcus Rashford at half-time. The Dutch revival, with their victory completed in extra time, left Kane licking his wounds after a dismal six days.
“It hurts, it hurts a lot,” the striker said. “This week could have been so different. As a professional athlete, all you dream about is lifting trophies and winning games. So it will hurt over the summer. It isn’t something you can just clear out of your mind but I think it is important, not just for me but all the lads who have had tough years, to refresh as much as possible with their mind and their body. Then of course it comes thick and fast and, before you know it, we’ll be in the Premier League again. You have to take the disappointment on the chin and learn from it.
“The progress this season has been really good. It would have been easy to take the foot off the gas after last summer and be happy with what we achieved, but we got to the semi-final of the best 12 teams in Europe. We had a tough group with Spain and Croatia and we got through that – and that was progression. It hurts again to lose another semi-final but we are knocking on the door and that is what we have got to take inspiration from. As a team I feel we are building well towards next summer.
“Euro 2020 is the challenge now. We have got to use these big games and big disappointments to motivate and help us learn. We are a young team but all of us now are playing in big games for club and country, which is a good sign. In those big moments it is down to us to progress and find a way to win. That will be our challenge next year.”
Kane is likely to start against Switzerland in the third-place play-off in Guimarães on Sunday in a much changed lineup, with Trent Alexander-Arnold having the chance to make the right-back position his own. Danny Rose, Joe Gomez, Michael Keane and Jordan Henderson also likely to start. Rashford, who injured his left leg, is not expected to play, though the knock is not considered serious.