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England’s dreams of winning the 2022 World Cup four years ago ended in agonising - but familiar - fashion.
As has been the case in so many tournaments over the years, the humble penalty spot was to blame for England’s exit, when Harry Kane uncharacteristically fired a late penalty over the bar as the Three Lions suffered a 2-1 defeat to France in Qatar.
Until then, Gareth Southgate’s side had perhaps looked the most impressive side at the tournament.
Waddle and Pearce on penalty misses
Two former England players will have watched Kane’s miss knowing the exact pain the then-Spurs man will have felt - but they also know that such a high-profile moment of misfortune does not define a player.
Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle both missed from the spot during England’s shootout against West Germany in the World Cup 90 semi-final, with the former believing that Kane’s miss will only strengthen his resolve this summer.
“I was in the stadium and my jaw just dropped – you never expect Kane to miss,” Pearce tells FourFourTwo.
“He would have been so disappointed with that, but he’ll use it to spur himself on to deliver more big things for England. We’re talking about one of the strongest characters in the squad – he’s almost unshakeable in his mentality. He’s been absolutely brilliant this season, and this might be his last World Cup.”
Waddle echoes his former Three Lions team-mate’s sentiment.
“Since he’s gone to Bayern, he’s been on another level,” says the former Newcastle and Marseille winger, who, like Kane, fired his spot kick over the bar.
“There are two ways you can look at it after you miss a penalty – you can curl up in a corner and hide, but I wasn’t going to do that. I missed a penalty but it wasn’t going to affect me after.
“I kept working on my game, won a number of awards at Marseille, then came back to England, had a great time with Sheffield Wednesday and won [Football Writers’ Association] Footballer of the Year.”
Waddle also points out that even the game’s greatest ever players have missed from the spot.
“I’ve seen Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi miss penalties – it doesn’t end your career. If there’s a penalty for England at this World Cup, we know who’ll take it. Even if he misses, he’ll take the next one. That’s Harry Kane.”
