England manager Gareth Southgate on Monday hailed his team for sticking to the game plan after Harry Kane headed home his second goal in stoppage-time to seal a 2-1 win over Tunisia in their opening World Cup Group G match.
England made a superb start at the Volgograd Arena when Kane lashed the home from close range in the 11th minute, but the lead lasted 24 minutes before Tunisia drew level from the penalty spot through Ferjani Sassi.
That was how it stayed as England struggled to break down the resilient north Africans, before they finally found a way through the massed defensive ranks when Kane swiveled to head home in stoppage-time.
Photo: AFP
While Kane took the plaudits, his manager was more interested in England’s cool heads under pressure as they refused to deviate from their measured possession game that Southgate has tried to hone.
“No matter what system we play, the important thing is when you are attacking you still have structure in your play. What pleased me was that we kept the control and composure,” Southgate told reporters. “Maybe tonight we could have run out of time, but I believe the best teams in the world have that belief in what they are doing and in the end they break teams down.”
That was exactly what England did, but they needed Kane to be at his predatory best.
Photo: AFP
The Tottenham Hotspur striker had not scored at a major tournament after drawing a blank at Euro 2016, but Southgate labeled him a “top, top striker” after his man-of-the-match display.
“If he doesn’t score tonight I am sitting here answering questions about his ability to score goals in tournament football, so for him I am personally delighted, but I know the pride he will feel in leading his country to victory tonight will be the biggest for him,” Southgate said.
Kane, who was frequently manhandled by Tunisia defenders in the penalty area, was in little doubt about the importance of the result.
“It’s massive. I am so proud of the lads. We kept going. We spoke a lot about togetherness and we’ve got a great bond together,” he said. “There were a lot of decisions against us and maybe there was a bit of justice at the end. That’s the World Cup. It’s tough.”
“It’s a massive boost, a massive bonus, we kept going. We kept fighting and got the late goal and a big win,” England midfielder Jordan Henderson said. “I felt positive at 1-1, the pace did drop off a bit. We had to keep creating chances, we didn’t play as well second half, but they defended deep. Winning the first game is always massive.”
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was