Euro 2020 takeaways: Somebody poked Harry Kane and now England is looking dangerous

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This article was published 03/07/2021 (1919 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Harry Kane scored five goals his first two games for England at the World Cup in 2018, and was hardly heard from again.

Between the final group stage game of that tournament and when England bowed out in a semifinal loss, Kane scored just once in regular time, converting a penalty in the team’s round-of-16 clash against Colombia.

So as the soccer world was not-so-quietly doubting England’s No. 9 as he got off to a quiet start at Euro 2020, failing to score in the round robin, Kane wasn’t fussed. He wasn’t fussed to be substituted against Croatia or Scotland in England’s first two games. He was focused on being physically ready for when it mattered, when he would put the ball in the back of the net.

England, now onto the semifinals after blowing out Ukraine 4-0 on Saturday in a win so anti-climatic it threw its neurotic fanbase for a loop, is now reaping the benefits of its captain’s game plan.

Kane got on the scoresheet for the first time this tournament in his team’s round-of-16 matchup against Germany, a glancing header into Manuel Neuer’s net in the 75th minute that would ultimately count as insurance and nothing more. There were glimpses in the latter stages of that match of the player England hoped Kane would be, the three-time English Premier League Golden Boot winner, one who tracked back and got more involved in the team’s attack while still doing what he does best — looming around the six-yard box sniffing out chances.

And Saturday’s quarterfinal performance against Ukraine, who didn’t put up much of a fight, suggests Kane is hitting his stride at just the right time. The 27-year-old opened the scoring in the fourth minute when he got a foot on a ball put in behind Ukraine’s defenders by Raheem Sterling. Kane added his second in the 50th minute, a typical-for-him headed goal off a cross by Luke Shaw.

Kane won’t be the only reason for England’s success, if it goes that far. Sterling has been the team’s best player to date. Shaw’s delivery from left back has been sublime throughout, and he added two assists on Saturday. England is the only team yet to concede a goal in the competition thanks to its defensive cohesion, and manager Gareth Southgate has defied massive pressure from back home by going with the lineups and substitutions he feels will work best for England.

But there’s no question that Kane is England’s main man. His contribution going forward could be the difference between a final and going home.

• Danes do it again: England will meet Denmark in the semifinals, and the Danes have proven they are so much more than just a team on a fairy-tale run after overcoming unimaginable hardship to start the tournament.

Christian Eriksen, who three weeks ago on Saturday needed to be resuscitated on the field after suffering cardiac arrest in the third game of this competition, will never be far from his teammates’ hearts or minds. But this Danish team was always going to have to be more than its star midfielder to make any kind of deep run at Euro 2020.

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They showed as much in Saturday’s 2-1 win over the Czech Republic, whose own Cinderella story came to an end in spite of a fifth goal from Patrik Schick that put him atop the tournament’s scoring leaderboard alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Danes controlled much of the first half after a fifth-minute opener from Thomas Delaney, who was unmarked in the Czech Republic box when he put his head on a corner kick from Jens Stryger. It could have been Denmark’s best cross of the game if not for Joakim Maehle, who used the outside of his cleat to whizz a masterful, curling ball across the Czech box just before halftime. The cross landed square on Kasper Dolberg’s foot, and the striker barely had to move to tap it in.

The Czechs would pull one back through Schick early in the second half, and pressed in the closing stages. But clear-cut chances were few and far between thanks to the Danes’ defensive shape, some momentum-saving stops from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and a pair of positive substitutions by manager Kasper Hjulmand around the 60th minute to quell a significant Czech response.

Denmark is so much more than a fairy tale, though it is heartwarming to see the joy the country has taken from the run after so recently being reminded there are far more important things out there. Denmark is where it is on merit. It may go into its next match as an underdog, but this team is not to be underestimated.

England, you’ve been warned.