Kane insists Iceland was ‘wake-up call’
England captain Harry Kane is very confident the Three Lions can win the whole thing despite a shock 1-0 defeat to Iceland.
Gareth Southgate’s side ended their preparations for Euro 2024 with a dismal loss at Wembley to a team who didn’t even qualify for the European Championships.
England were booed off at the end of the match, but Kane is trying to take the positives from it.
Speaking to The Times, he said: “Sometimes you need this wake-up call. There are areas we need to improve, especially with our pressure.
“The group games are going to be very similar to this. We are going to have to defend well, especially the longer balls, and with the ball we need to be a bit more patient.
“We fell below our standards without the ball and that is something we have to review and get better with. It goes back to [the issue of being] without the ball that we need to improve.
“There probably was not enough hunger in the duels, in the second balls and winning those. They are a big, important part when you are playing these teams, to sustain the pressure and really suffocate them.
“We are going in there as one of the favourites and that is a responsibility that we have to take forward now, because we have earned the right to be there.
“We will never take it for granted. I have said many times to judge us on the tournament form, on the tournament football.
“Of course, there will be some noise about [Iceland], but I think there is a lot of optimism from the fans and rightly so.
“Ultimately, it is down to us to make sure we get it right on the pitch. This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think.”