Gareth Southgate praised Harry Kane’s mental strength after he broke England’s all-time goalscoring record with a crucial strike in Thursday’s 2-1 Euro 2024 qualifier win over Italy.
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Captain Kane scored his 54th international goal from the penalty spot to move ahead of Wayne Rooney and help England win Group C in Naples against the European champions.
The 29-year-old has drawn level with Rooney after missing a penalty in England’s quarter-final defeat to France at the World Cup in December.
“To break the record in the way he did in recent history is an indication of his strength of character. I couldn’t be happier for him,” Southgate told reporters.
“To do it so quickly, he still has so much of his career to go, is an incredible achievement.
“The players gave us a great reception and I think it’s a response to the record and what we need to restore.”
Kane’s goal came at the end of an impressive first-half performance that would have put the game to sleep had Jack Grealish missed a clear chance from close range when set up by the Tottenham striker.
In the end England had to hold on as Italy pulled a goal back through debutant Mateo Retegui and Luke Shaw was sent off in the 80th minute after two quick-fire yellow cards.
“We showed both sides without a doubt. We had great control from the back in the first half… frankly we should have buried the game, it should have been 3-0 at half time,” added Southgate, whose team faced Ukraine on Sunday.
“We conceded a bad goal, some mistakes in front of him, and then all the emotions of the evening changed.
“Finally he can refer to something that has to be ground and dug away from home, which is very important…
“It would be a fantastic result to win on Sunday.”
Italy coach Roberto Mancini was left to blame for a poor first-half effort that cost his team the result, but he was encouraged by what he saw in the Azzurri’s second-half performance.
“Our second half was very good. We saw a real team there that pressed and didn’t let them breathe,” Mancini said.
“We conceded two goals that could have been avoided. The first goal was due to interference… In the second half, we never attacked a team that wasn’t down by 10 until the 80th minute.