In the quarterfinal match of the European Cup that ended in the early hours of Beijing time today, England eliminated Switzerland in a thrilling penalty shootout and advanced to the quarterfinals. After the match, England's captain Harry Kane was interviewed by the media, sharing his feelings during the match and his views on the team's performance.
Kane began by praising his team's performance in the game, stating, "It was another tough game but once again the lads showed great resilience. Bukayo Saka's goal was fantastic and it opened the door for us to win. In the penalty shootout we hit five out of five and Pickford also saved a penalty which was really crucial."
Talking about penalty shootouts, Kane believes that it is a part of the game of soccer and a crucial moment to test the mental fitness of the team and players. He mentioned, "A lot of past champions have won on penalties and that's the key moment. It was especially important for Saka to step up and score that goal, he showed his courage and determination. I stayed calm during the penalty shootout and I know our players are all penalty takers for their respective clubs and they all enjoy the challenge under pressure."
Kane was full of praise for Saka's performance: "He was always eager to help the team and played the full 120 minutes the way he did. He's really special and I'm so proud of him and all the lads. It's really, really hard for him to step up as much as he has after a tough time at the last World Cup."
Speaking about his fitness, Kane said that he was fine and just had a bit of cramping, so the manager made the decision to make a substitution. He emphasized, "I'll be fine, we need to prepare for the game in a few days next."
Additionally, Kane paid tribute and showed his support to manager Southgate. He mentioned that Southgate's 100th game in charge is a milestone, while Wednesday's game will be the 101st and hopefully the team will reach 102 next weekend. Kane said, "I've said before that being England manager brings a lot of talk. But Southgate has done a great job and he always finds the tactics and formations that work best for us. Today we also changed our formation to the one we have played before and we felt comfortable doing that."
Finally, Kane looked ahead to the future of the team, "We still have a week to prepare for the next games. We will continue to train hard and improve our skills and tactics. I believe we have the ability to go farther and bring more surprises to our fans."
