Harry Kane ankle injury: England ‘can’t win the World Cup’ without their captain
England captain Harry Kane is a major injury concern ahead of Friday’s Fifa World Cup game against the United States. Tottenham striker Kane will have a scan on his right ankle after picking up the knock in the 6-2 victory over Iran.
In the opening World Cup group B game on Monday, Kane received treatment in the 48th minute after being caught by a heavy tackle from Morteza Pouraliganji. Although he managed to play on, he was later replaced by Newcastle’s Callum Wilson.
The 29-year-old has “a long history of ankle issues”, said Jacob Steinberg in The Guardian. After the game he was seen “walking with a slight limp” and “wearing strapping” on his right ankle.
In his post-match press conference, Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate said he felt that Kane was “fine” and he took the skipper off as a precaution because “we felt it was a moment in the game we could do that”. Southgate will hope Kane’s “scan results are positive” as he prepares the team for their second game of the group stage, said the BBC.
Can England cope without Kane?
England fans should be “biting their nails” ahead of Kane’s scan today, said Oliver Holt in the Daily Mail. Describing the striker as the team’s “most important player”, Holt believes that while England can still progress in the competition, “I don’t think we can win the World Cup without Harry Kane”. England could cope without him for a couple of games, but “it would be a heavy blow if he were to be ruled out”.
Kane won the golden boot at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and in his international career for England he has scored 51 goals in 76 appearances. Although he didn’t score in the match against Iran, Kane played an “influential role” and set up two of the six goals, said Phil Spencer on talkSPORT. He’s now just two away from equalling Wayne Rooney’s all-time England men’s record of 53 goals.
Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/sport/football/958600/harry-kane-ankle-injury-scan-england-world-cup