'Defeat in France tough to take for team with winning habit'

Tuesday 18 Nov 2014
Harry Kane scored a brace against France

Harry Kane’s fine form in front of goal continued on Monday night, but his brace in Brest wasn’t enough to prevent England Under-21s from defeat.

Gareth Southgate’s side suffered their first loss in 13 games against France, with the Tottenham Hotspur striker getting both of England’s goals.

But despite taking his tally for the Under-21s to eight goals, Kane admits the result still leaves a sour taste for a team who have been used to winning.

France 3-2 England

Under-21 International
Stade Francis-Le Ble, Brest
Monday 17 November 2014

“It’s good to get on the scoresheet again, but as a collective we’re disappointed that we’ve lost the game after going 2-0 up,” he said.

“These are the sort of tests that we’re going to be up against. It’s unfortunate that we lost the game but we’ll learn from it and take it into next year.

“They were a good side, they’re physical and they’ve got good ability, but they didn’t make it through to the Euros so that shows how good this competition is."

He continued: “The conditions were tough, especially with the way we want to play with the ball on the floor and possession football, but both teams had to play on the pitch and we can’t make excuses.

“I think we can play better than what we did today. 

"We were disappointed and we spoke about that in the changing room but you learn from these games. 

"We’re going to be playing the best teams in these friendlies so we know what we’ll be up against in the Euros.”

The Three Lions now have a four-month wait before their next meet-up in March, when they will play Germany in Middlesbrough as well as another match which is still to be confirmed.

“We’re going to be playing the best teams in these friendlies so we know what we’ll be up against in the Euros”

Harry Kane 

Kane and his squad-mates will return to their clubs eager to keep themselves at the forefront of Southgate’s mind when it comes to selection for those games and beyond.

“It’s back to our clubs now and there’s a lot of games to come over the Christmas and new year period,” he added.

“You’ve just got to keep fit and keep on top of it and hopefully, the guys will all be on form going into the next friendlies.

“It was good to come away here and get a couple more goals, to get your confidence high and keep the run going.

“Hopefully I can take that back to my club form in the games we’ve got coming up.”

By Nicholas Veevers Content Manager - FA Owned Channels in Brest, France