Harry Kane insists there is “another level” England can reach, as they prepare for Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final against Argentina. The England skipper is preparing to lead his country into a fourth semi-final in the last five major tournaments after Jude Bellingham’s double helped England beat Norway after extra time in Miami and reach the last four.
Tuchel's 'Sloppy' Critique
Head coach Thomas Tuchel was disappointed with aspects of England’s “sloppy” performance against the Norwegians, and Kane agrees England can and will improve. “We know we can improve and we know we can play better,” said the Bayern Munich striker. “But ultimately we are in a semi-final of the World Cup and that has not always been the case for this national team, so we have to enjoy it.”
Kane on Tuchel's Expectations
“When he [Tuchel] sees us train and sees the closeness of us and sees what we can do, especially with the players we have, the way we attack, our one-on-ones and the skills, he just wants to see that version of us,” Kane added. “He knows as much as anyone that it’s not as simple as that. We’re playing against good opposition and good teams. He’s trying to drag it out of us, and we know, ourselves, we have another level that we can reach.”
England's Tournament Performance
Kane was asked whether England have reached that next level during the tournament so far. “We haven’t seen that yet, we’ve shown it in glimpses,” he said. “Against Norway, it was in glimpses. But we haven’t had full control that we would like and I feel we can have. But at this stage of the tournament you are playing against the best teams in the world. We’ll be playing against one of the best teams in the world in the semi-final, so the most pleasing thing is that we are in a semi-final and we can still feel like we can improve.”
“But I don’t think it is something to get really over the top about. We are showing a lot of good things, and the way the boys defended as a team against Norway and the way we attacked, we still had some really good moments. Jude stepped up for us with another couple of goals. Overall, we can be really pleased,” Kane concluded.
